Would-be Wizard
by YearsLate
Summary: This story briefly on hiatus until a reboot is complete to improve on quality of writing, brevity of introduction, and bringing more DRAMA and better characterization. Story is NOT dropped.
1. V 00 Chapter 01

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth.

This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from. Plez sooport de officer's relish.

Published: 7/5/2018

Edited: 7/25/2018

Volume 00. Chapter 01.

Green Meets Black

* * *

" _Emotion and doubt should not be casually mistaken for weakness. For in both we can derive new conviction and the will to improve, to change."_

* * *

The stars really were far more beautiful when viewed from the crisp, lightless environment of the countryside. Despite the inherent dangers of camping, the stunning view seemed completely worthwhile in the moment. Though it was mid-summer and the trees and plants of Vale's forests were all in full bloom, it was still chilly as could be, late as it was. The canopy of trees, barely illuminated against the night sky overhead stood like dark, grasping hands against the innumerable bright lights.

"... e."

Light pollution. Such a simple concept, yet so pronounced in its effects. Vale's night sky was beautiful, of course. But even though he was technically viewing the same thing now as he always had, the view felt completely new. Like a fresh coat of paint, the vividness and color of the sky was a stark contrast. There was simply no contest over which was the better view.

"... age."

Truly profound. To think how much ones perception of something can be changed by the environment from which it is viewed. There must be some sort of meaning to be gleamed from this. He was quite pleased his uncle had convinced his father to allow him to go on this camping trip, otherwise he would never have gotten to see-

"Gage."

He blinked, his view through the telescope now blocked by the figure of a giant- _Wait, no, that's wrong._ Lowering the telescope, he found his uncle, Albus Enfield, looking down upon him with a broad grin.

Although he couldn't see him well in the dim light away from the campfire, Gage was still familiar with his figure. Six feet and two inches tall, a face with soft, kind features decorated with sharp green eyes and topped with short, tousled black hair. The man wore a plain white button-up with full-length sleeves and black trousers. Aside from the equally white cloak with gold trimmings draped over his shoulders and the all-metal staff he carried in hand, he was rather plain. Especially so for a huntsman.

Gage didn't see that at all. To him, Albus bore the look of a traveling magician- a wizard, even. It was almost as though he had stepped right out of one of the fantasy novels Gage had read. The man could easily pass for a mysterious benefactor, showing up right as needed to impart some information or provide a helping hand to the hero. He idolized him, wanted to be like that image he had of him.

"You've been spacing out for a while now, young man." Albus remarked with an amused tone.

"Ah. Sorry, uncle Albus. It's just..." Gage trailed off and looked back up towards the stars, gesturing with his chin as his eyes continued to shift about. His uncle chuckled, prompting Gage to finish his thought. "It's amazing."

"I'm glad to hear you like the view, Gage. If you think you can tear your eyes away from it a few minutes though, I was thinking we could talk?" Albus asked with a teasing note.

His strong gaze was unnerving and at odds with his tone. He kept his eyes locked firmly on Gage's until the boy was doing the same to him. With some trepidation he nodded his assent.

* * *

Albus gestured for him to take a seat across from him, with the dying embers of the campfire occupying the space between them and dimly lighting their faces. His uncle did not speak immediately, his eyes locked on the space over his head, occasionally glancing down at him. Gage interpreted this as him thinking over memories.

So, he waited for his uncle to speak, his gaze naturally going to the trees surrounding them. With how dark out it was and the ever-present possibility of Grimm in the area, even the slight ruffle of the trees from a gust of wind was eerie. Still, Gage felt at ease. After all, his uncle, a capable huntsman in his own right, was here with him.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait too long for his uncle to speak. Hearing his audible breath, Gage turned and gave him his full attention.

"Do you know why I insist on calling you by middle name?"

Gage frowned at the question, uncertain of what the point of it was. Certainly, it was unusual that his uncle and cousin called them by his middle name. But it had never seemed altogether meaningful. Just another name he could be addressed by.

"No. I don't." He said lamely, unable to hazard a guess why.

"Well. Are you aware of the color naming convention, then?"

"Of course..." Gage pouted for a moment. "During the Great War, every conflicting kingdom made efforts to oppress free expression and artists objecting the conflict. It's unknown who or where exactly the trend started, but naming children after colors, directly or indirectly, quickly spread from artists to normal citizens. The convention has stuck since then as an expression of individuality and freedom." Saying all of this came second nature to Gage. He had a strong affinity for history, one which others his age did not share.

Albus smiled wryly at his nephews thorough explanation. He leaned forward and ruffled the boys hair, causing him to squawk in surprise. "Correct. As it happens though, that name doesn't follow the convention. I suggested your parents name you that." At that, Gage's eyes widened. "But they weren't for it, although they did ultimately decide to make it your middle name."

Gage blinked owlishly as he processed the new information. His uncle had been the one to suggest his middle name, and what's more, his parents agreed with it? At least presently, his father and uncle were on bad terms with each other. Gage wondered if that had always been the case.

There was one other detail that he'd made notice of though. His curiosity piqued now, he voiced his question.

"If my middle name isn't a color, what does it mean?"

Albus's glance went to the dying fire as he explained. "That's simple. The name Gage is very similar to the word gauge. I was hoping that perhaps having a name like that might influence your ability to gauge things. To assess what you see. Appraise the value of things. Evaluate and understand the meaning of it."

He paused a moment in his explanation before raising his attention to meet Gage's rapt eyes. "Most color convention names are chosen to represent individuality and identity. That's fine, but as your uncle, I figured I could suggest something a little more meaningful. Give you a concept you could aspire to embody, and not simply a color to associate yourself with."

His smile came back to his face, a soft, satisfied expression. "Even though I never told you before, you've still performed admirably. Well done, Gage."

Gage nodded his head dumbly. It was a new feeling, being praised for living up to someones expectations. Especially that of someone he admired so much. He was far more used to failing to live up to expectations. Being praised for how perceptive he was though...

It felt good.

"Now don't go getting an over-inflated head quite yet." Albus resumed with amusement, embarrassing Gage and causing him to glance downwards bashfully. "Once you've come to understand a situation though, what should you do with that knowledge?"

Was he being tested? Maybe. But it felt more like this was the point he had been building up to all along. "You should, um. Use that understanding to help?"

"Hehe. I suppose I was being a little vague with those hypotheticals." Albus ran a hand through his hair, grinning wryly. "But yes, you should. If there's something you know you can do to help improve a situation, you should do so. It can be difficult, but I'm sure you'll come to understand the importance of doing so when you grow older."

Gage hesitated for a moment. He unable to imagine the scope of difficulty involved in helping others just because he could. He already had a hard enough time communicating with his peers. Worse still, he doubted he'd be able to come to understand the significance in doing so. He didn't have the kind of confidence to understand he was still growing as a person.

But seeing his uncle simply smiling at him with pride, he felt he should at least try. There was no judgment, castigation or demand in his gaze, just the earnest desire to see his nephew grow. Gage gave the slightest nod, too embarrassed to respond verbally.

Albus nodded back before looking away, his expression turning wistful. "I'm glad. Remember though, Gage. Opportunities are not forever, and if you wait too long to answer one you may find it already outside your reach."

The world suddenly blurred and faded to black as his perception distorted. Distantly, he felt a hand shaking his shoulder gently and a different voice- a womans- gently chiding him to wake up.

 _Ah, that's right... this is just a dream..._ Gage remembered now, this was just a memory. A very important one to be sure, but nothing more than saved data, etched forever into his soul.

An eternal reminder that Gage had failed- was failing- to live up to his heroes expectations.

Still Albus's words continued on, echoing in his mind now in Gage's own voice as he repeated his heroes next words to himself.

 _Everything comes at some cost. Nothing is truly free of charge. Knowing and understanding that cost are two very different things. And even magic has its limitations._

Yes. Even if he became as strong as that man, his hero Albus Enfield, the archetype for what he thought a wizard would be like. He knew. Had already realized, established, learned, understood, hated, despaired and rationalized this obvious fact. He didn't understand it at the time, but he'd thoroughly come to understand since then.

He could not change Remnant.

* * *

Finally. The day of the entrance exams had arrived. Having already missed the first one by a few days margin when she arrived to Vale by herself, she was not eager to miss her last chance to take the Alternative Qualification Exam for Beacon. It represented the start of her journey to personal redemption after all the blood that had stained her hands, directly or indirectly.

Blake Belladonna wasn't nervous regarding the exams. Nor was she excited for them. She already believed she would pass absolutely.

No, the emotions she was experiencing were far more subtle. Quiet determination along with a healthy dose of skepticism kept her walking at an even pace to avoid attracting any attention to herself. The first, could be attributed to her new-found desire to utilize her talents as a huntress. The second, her wariness of being recognized by any White Fang agents. She was confident she had thus far avoided notice. That said, there were few places one could take talent like hers, and one of the chief ones would be a Huntsman Academy. Coupled with her strong moral convictions and it was possible that Adam would post someone to keep an eye out for her attending the entrance exams. If he understood her better than she thought he did anyways.

 _Big if._ The thought was accompanied with a small twinge of pain in her heart. She had once thought she and Adam had understood one another intrinsically. That they were both of one mind and goal. That notion had died a slow death as her doubts and concerns about his views kept piling up. She could only ignore them for so long before something broke.

The incident on the train had been a calculated decision despite how sudden it must have been for Adam. She wanted to make one genuine attempt to confront him and see where he stood, and decide if she would stand with him or cut herself free from his path.

Had their goals simply diverged at some point, or had they both misunderstood one another the entire time? There was no way of answering that question now and even if she could the answer wouldn't have changed her ultimate decision to flee from her life in the White Fang.

And so, she had decided to use some of the limited lien she had to buy ordinary clothes to disguise herself while she stayed in Vale. Right now, she had opted to wear a black hooded sweatshirt and white jeans, along with her new trademark bow concealing her ears. Blake had contemplated wearing a beret over them instead for a time. But in an odd twist, that would only be more likely to draw attention to her, as hiding ones faunus traits under a hat wasn't altogether uncommon.

What better way to hide her ears instead than in plain sight?

She was as ready as could be. Which, again, was more than enough. Anything they would put forward could be handled by the average unseasoned huntress-in-training. Her time in the White Fang had put her well above that norm. If an average student could handle it, she would excel in it. She would have to restrain herself just a little, though.

The only matter remaining then was arriving to her destination. Torch Primary Combat School. It was located in the heart of Vale and the exams were to be held there. Staff members from the primary school and professors of Beacon would be hosting and observing the exams respectively. She did not know much about the school, but supposedly it was different from other Primary School's in the kingdom of Vale.

Thankfully, she was getting close based on the number of huntsman-in-training she was witnessing all headed in the same direction.

When some of the students turned to follow a short path up to a single building she followed the path with her eyes to what must have been Torch Primary. The school was, for lack of a better word, uniform. With only a small garden lining the exterior of the building and the structure itself of the same brick and mortar style as was common of Vale, it was apparent that the school had been founded well after Vale itself and was either a repurposed building or intentionally built in the style of the rest of downtown Vale. Blake wasn't an architect, so there was no way she could discern which with her eyes alone.

She followed the flow of students down the street to the inauspicious school and her amber eyes observed the crowd dispassionately. Aside from a few stand-outs, the majority of the trainees didn't strike her as competent.

Blake noted that the students seemed to fall into one of three distinct categories: Oddities like herself, already possessing practical combat experience and their own custom gear and clothes. These made up the smallest number, but were arguably the largest reason for why the Alternative Qualification Exam existed. It served as a convenient method to draw in such potential huntsman.

The second largest group had the most variation among them, aside from two points. They were relatively less well-equipped, but seemed to be aware of their limitations. This group seemed to be made up largely of students already attending Torch, if the fact that they were the most used to the sights of Vale were any indication. If Blake had to name something positive about them, it was that they had the will to grow, even if they had started their huntsman training late.

The last group was not only the largest, but also the noisiest by far. Outwardly, they looked the part of huntsman, with their outlandish gear and weapons. But that only told half the story, as Blake could tell just from looking that their confidence was artificial. Most of them had limited training, their ego's inflated by some mixture of equipment, powerful semblances and winning the genetics jackpot. Whatever their individual reasons may be for taking the exams, most of them would walk away disappointed. A handful would pass, given the number of them, but their luck would only carry them so far.

Other than the students she observed and the upcoming walls, nothing else grabbed her attention. That is, until she heard something _completely_ out of place for a bustling street, bringing her steps to a halt from sheer confusion.

 _Is that...? No. No way is someone sleeping in the middle of a crowded street, Blake. Whatever you thought you'd heard, it must have been something else._ Satisfied, she resumed her pace.

For a mere six steps.

 _OK, there it is again_. She hissed internally. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she looked around for the source of her random distraction, all the while ignoring the students that took note of her unusual behavior. It only took a few moments of observation for her to find what she heard before.

A young man, head tilted down and body leaned back against the schools wall while seated on one of the benches lining the small garden. _Napping_. The entrance exams were rapidly approaching, and here was a trainee snoozing away on a bench just outside the exam building. Unbelievable.

Believable or not, the spot he'd chosen to rest was unusually well-hidden from view. Shaded by the building in an alcove of the exteriors walls, low-hanging branches from a short tree blocking the bench partially from street view along with a series of bushes that followed alongside a path around the building. No students bothered walking along the path as it was clearly made for when students were looking to take a break during the day.

Her eyes narrowed just the slightest bit as she came to a realization, one that aggravated her. A quick glance around confirmed her suspicion: She was the only one to have noticed him. It wasn't a surprise, as the alcove he was resting in was hidden from view of the path up to the school. But it did hold significance.

Registration wouldn't be open for much longer now. If he didn't make it there in time he would miss the exams. If he missed the exams, then he would have to wait an entire year to be able to enter Beacon. And at this rate, he wouldn't wake up in time. Unless someone else woke him.

In other words, her intervention was the only way he would get to participate in the exams today. Blake didn't want to involve herself in this however. It was his fault for falling asleep, and she didn't even know him. None of this was her responsibility. For all she knew, he was bound to fail the tests.

She chided herself mentally. There was no way she could know that for sure. Even more, she knew that if she did nothing the guilt would eat away at her afterwards. She sighed and her shoulders visibly deflated. Just this once, she supposed she could go out of her way to help a complete stranger, as uneasy as it made her. Even if he were to fail in the exam, better that then her doing nothing and leaving the entire thing in doubt.

 _It's only the surprise that's making me so annoyed, that's all._ She rationalized to herself before setting off.

* * *

Blake stood before the dozing boy who'd diverted her. She only meant come over to wake him, but soon found herself scrutinizing his appearance as her natural curiosity kicked in.

His hair color might once have been blonde, but was now somewhere between that and brown. He kept it in a basic gentleman's cut, letting his cowlick define most of where his bangs went, though he had the good mind to brush his hair daily. Unusually for a hunter, he sported glasses with oval lenses and thin, metallic green frames. His features were just defined enough to be handsome rather than manly, with soft cheeks and full lips.

He was of a pale complexion that indicated he spent little time outside. More strangely though, he was... lanky. Extremely so for a hunter-in-training. Topped off with an absence of visible weaponry on him and it was a mystery to Blake how he had manage to get by as a hunter. Perhaps his weapon was in the bag beside him? It was likely, but even though she could check it she decided against it.

His clothes were the only thing that indicated he was hunter-in-training. Everything he wore was in the usual fabric that was common of hunters gear. Stain-resistant, durable, capable of channeling aura and suitable for all environments, the often custom-made clothing was quite expensive. Although the only custom-made piece he seemed to wear was the loose jacket he wore, colored a moss green shade with a hood and cords to tie the front closed. Under it was a white button-up shirt with long sleeves and accompanied by a green tie of all things, giving him the vague appearance of being ready for an ordinary day job. On his legs were a pair of grey slacks and for his feet, brown leather boots. If not for the jacket he wore and the symbol on his jacket he could be mistaken for a civilian.

She turned her eyes to the insignia over his left breast. The symbol was a white book at a diagonal angle, with the shape of the four primary Dust elements as cut-outs on the face of the book.

 _More and more unusual._

Overall, he was stereotypically bookish. Almost comedically so He was even napping with a book in hand! _Preparing Yourself for the Alternative Qualification Exam_ , she idly noted. "Little late to be studying," she whispered aloud.

Blake didn't mean to judge, but he fit the stereotype so strongly it was hard to not notice. She had seen plenty of the type in bookstores all over Remnant in her travels, and he wouldn't have been out of place in any of them.

Which of the categories of students would he fill anyhow? She wanted to say the third group, having enough money to pay for good equipment but without the training to back it up, but didn't have any information on his personality to say for sure.

 _Maybe I can sate my curiosity while I'm at it,_ Blake mused internally.

"Wake up. You'll miss the exams." She shook his shoulder as she flatly called out to him. Fortunately, her half-hearted effort was enough, and she was greeted with moss green eyes fluttering open as he began waking up. He stretched his arms above his head, grunted and made eye contact with her. It was at that point he froze still.

* * *

 _... Okay... Um... Thank you, Oum above, for your blessings: First for creating this extraordinary beauty, then granting me this opportunity to be awoken by her, and finally for not making me randomly blurt out anything... Yet._

Internally, Gage's mind was a maelstrom. As soon as he had made eye contact with the young woman's amber eyes, his heart had fluttered and his heart rate accelerated instantly. He didn't really believe in love on first sight, but this was... er... hm... Yes, let's be blunt about it. She's beautiful.

Thankfully for him, Gage was still frozen up outwardly and hadn't started blushing or stuttering like an idiot. Good! Now, uh... right... hm. Next comes the part where he treats her like a person and not like an object for his desire. And he knew of no better way to achieve that than his go-to method: Say something witty _and_ stupid!

"You don't look like any childhood friend I can recall..." _Perfect_.

The _beauty_ \- erm, girl- before him snorted softly and stepped back as his literal ice-breaker took effect. She hadn't laughed, but neither had she frowned or smiled in confusion. Situation successfully reset.

"Thank you for waking me, though." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he spoke drowsily, recalling that he had every reason to be awake right now.

"Sure." She nodded simply, before giving the slightest of mischievous smiles. "So... were you so busy cramming that you neglected to sleep before the exams?"

Gage frowned in confusion. She gestured to the book he was still holding onto and understanding flashed in his eyes.

"Oh, uh, I wasn't cramming. I'd already read this before." He held up the book for reference. "I was trying to relax and stay mentally ready for the exams." He grimaced, acutely aware of how embarrassing it was that his effort to relax had gone so well that he'd fallen asleep. Grrreat.

The black-haired _beau_ \- girl!- snorted softly again, her teasing smile growing for a moment before she reigned in control of herself. "I see."

Their conversation stopped there. _So much for breaking that ice._

"Well!" Gage sprang up and thrust his hand forward as he tried to reassert his dominance over time. "My name is Gage Enfield."

"Blake Belladonna." She looked down at his hand for a moment but didn't make to shake it.

"Well, thank you again Blake, your help is appreciated." Gage smiled as he picked his bag up and made to leave. Much as he'd have liked to walk with her, he could faintly tell she didn't want to walk with him.

"Of course."

Still, if she was as asocial as she seemed, he may as well dispense her some advice before he made himself scarce. "One piece of advice though." Blake quirked her brow as he looked back over his shoulder to her.

"The exams require you to find a partner to work with, and later duel for sections of the physical exam. I'd suggest finding someone you'd be comfortable working with." Blake's eyes opened wide at that. It seemed she hadn't been aware alright. Goes to show he'd been rewarded for studying up in advance.

Gage turned to take his leave of her, walking quickly. While she was certainly pretty and at least considerate enough to help him since nobody else could, the former was not a proper reason to team up with someone (Even if it tempted him!), and the latter spoke more of pity than kindness. In addition, she seemed less than eager to spend time in his company. He didn't know anything more than that about her, but to Gage, that was more than enough reason to avoid trying to team up with her.

Nuhuh, down that road laid crushed crushes. He was smart enough to know to avoid disappointment by hoping for something that would never happen!

Which made it come as a surprise when her hand grasped his shoulder as he opened one of the double-doors to the academy. "Wait," Her eyes bored into his with an unusual intensity. "Is that true?"

"Uh?" He uttered stupidly for a moment before realizing what she was asking. "Ah, yes. I did study specifically to be prepared for these exams after all." Blake's eyes practically flashed as her shoulders tensed at the new information. He could tell she was thinking very seriously about something.

"And... do you have anyone in mind?" Blake asked searchingly, eyes darting all over his face.

"Uh, erm." Her question threw his mind into turmoil, his mind unable to help but come up with a few unlikely scenario's for why she would ask that. Gage flapped his lips dumbly for a few moments before mentally slapping himself. _Don't get tangled up with someone you'll only end up being a bother for._

Drawing a deep breath to calm his nerves, Gage glared at her and pulled his sleeve from her grasp. "No." Gage said darkly, "I don't."

Gage turned on his heel and stalked away quickly down the hallway into Torch academy, his footfalls echoing over the checker-board floor.

The emotions that had driven him to flee from Blake were difficult for him to make sense of, but he already knew the underlying cause anyhow. Self-loathing.

 _I'm tired of taking a chance with others only to find I don't live up to their expectations._ He knew what he'd done wasn't very nice, confusing Blake by letting his annoyance flare at her. But it would be better for her to have a reason to avoid him.

 _You'll never become a good hunter like this, Gage._ He mocked self-deprecatingly.

* * *

 _What just happened?_ Blake was confused. Just moments ago she had been hoping to hear that her new acquaintance would be without an ideal partner for the upcoming exam. She hardly knew him, but it was far preferable to select a new acquaintance rather than relying on random chance to find a new partner.

The words he'd said were the ones she had wanted to hear. _And yet, the results don't match with the data..._

The awkward, learned boy had been nice enough. Clear in expressing himself, transparent, earnest. It wouldn't be hard to get along with him briefly, no matter how weak he may have been.

However, his sudden rejection made no sense. _Did I bring up a bad topic?_ Blake was familiar with being sensitive to certain topics of conversation. Faunus rights and the SDC in particular. But reacting over something this innocuous? She had to wonder why.

"Maybe... he's actually really weak?" She frowned while contemplating the idea. _It's possible. It would certainly explain why he reacted badly if he thought I was pitying him._ He had certainly seemed to fill the second category of students she had noted, given he had studied specifically for the entrance exams.

 _Alternatively, what if he's actually quite formidable and dislikes being used?_ That idea seemed less likely, given how modest he had been to start with. But Blake couldn't discount that it still felt plausible either.

 _Puzzling over this will do me no good_. She concluded, finally starting on her destination with a few minutes to spare. _I'll just have to team up with him anyways and find the answer out myself._

Blake's mind was burning with curiosity now. He'd underestimated her if he thought that one instant of dismissiveness on his part would be enough to make her cower or avoid him. Oh yes, she'd get her answers _and_ an apology...

Once she registers anyways.

* * *

 **A/N:** Huh, okay. This is new. Uh, hi!

This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, as my awkward writing style usually gets applied towards getting an A on essays. So if you've managed to read through the first chapter, I just wanted to say:

 **THANK YOU!** I hope you've enjoyed reading and are looking forward to more as much as I am.

I'm not really fond of spoiling bits of the story in advance, as I am a proponent of showing and not telling a story. That said, I think it's quite important to discuss a story too, and if I can't talk about and substantiate my own decisions what's that say about how intentional they are?

So, the elephant in the room. OC's always seem to carry a small taboo with them, as they can be difficult to portray in a way that feels seamless with the setting and like they are a _worthwhile_ addition. My reason for having an OC character is rooted in the fact that, much as I like many a story that brings an alternate Jaune Arc to the table, I actually like Jaune Arc and don't want to futz around with him. Plus, I like designing characters and a fighting style for them. A bit of a holdover from my attempts at playing Dungeons and Dragons; it was always more fun for me to create characters than to play them. But getting to write for the character? I should have tried this years ago.

I've always liked crossovers that manage to make characters from two settings interact effectively. That fascination also applies to me for a good OC. So given my brain was already geared to do so, I forged ahead with the idea.

The original idea I had for this story was actually much, much more ambitious. And then I realized, _that's a bad idea._ I kept all the notes I made for that story though and even adjusted a few things so that it could reasonably be considered an alternate timeline to this story, if ever I get around to writing it. So while this story is stripped back in some regards, it was for the sake of making it easier to write it and get some experience.

With all that out of the way, I'd just like to clear up a few things about what you can expect with this story. If you're not interested in knowing the future in advance and want to leave it a mystery for later, by all means feel free to skip the rest of this.

First, update frequency. I know. It's pretty arrogant for me to broach that topic on the very first chapter of my first fic! Hahahahah! Haaaaah... I don't really know how frequently I will update this, as I am a fairly slow writer. While I've plotted out a decent portion of the plot, I am approaching it as something that will be subject to change as I grow into writing this. So I won't make any promises, but I will say that I'm currently excited to be doing this, and know where I am going from here.

Next, the question of what you can expect from this story and why you should read it. And frankly? That last part is up to you. This story, as much as I am happy to share it, is being written for me. Publishing it is about taking responsibility for it, and lighting a fire under my butt.

As for what you can expect! I am intending to make this story have a greater focus on the day-to-day school life of the RWBY cast. My goal is to make it more of a coming-of-age type story, and have a focus on drama, character interaction, and perhaps a little humor where suitable. Combat and adventure will come in due time too, but should not be expected outside of combat class for the time being.

Another thing you can expect is that it will actually take a rather long time for many of the events in canon to start going down. I have a few in-story reasons to explain this, but I don't want to reveal them now as it will give away too much. I'll apologize for my sins later when the time has come.

And that... is everything I can think of right now. I'm very pleased to have completed this first chapter and gotten it out, but I know it's just the beginning. If you're still here with me, I look forward to seeing you again in the future. I'll talk more about why I chose to write things the way I did next time.

\- YearsLate


	2. V 00 Chapter 02

Published: 7/8/2018

Edited: 7/25/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth.

This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from. Plez sooport de officer's relish.

* * *

Volume 01, Chapter 02.

Exams Are Easy

* * *

Gage looked around at the plain brick walls that were universal to nearly each hallway of Torch Academy as he waited on the young secretary before him to move forward with processing his application for the entrance exams. The walls, while plain, were still adorned with pictures regularly. Graduated huntsmen and women, previous teachers and headmasters, and even just pictures of everyday scenes at the school. If not for how wide and long the corridors were and the lack of a fireplace, it would almost be homey.

"Alright Mr. Enfield, just one last signature here and you'll be all clear to enter and wait with the rest of the students for the exam. Good luck!" A secretary said with a chipper smile, drawing Gage's attention back to what he was doing. He took the form and signed the last blank spot in his registration forms. He thanked her softly as he stood up and returned the bundle to her.

' _Impressive._ ' She was very good at maintaining her positive attitude despite how many people she'd no doubt had to deal with already today. Yet here Gage was, still silently fuming over one encounter.

' _No, don't think about it. Be grateful she woke you up, don't bother her again and everything will be fine._ ' Gage took a deep breath and began regulating his breathing, eyes shut as he calmed his nerves. Aside from that small hiccup, everything was going perfectly well today and he was more than prepared to deal with the exams on his own terms. With any luck, he'd manage to impress someone at the physical exams who would be more interested in his talent as a Dust mage than in he himself. ' _Well, that shouldn't be too hard._ '

Unbeknownst to him however a pair of amber-colored eyes kept shooting him glares from nearby, their owner plotting his downfall as he basked in his "foolproof" plan.

* * *

Torch Primary Combat School. Located in the heart of Vale, it acts as the only primary combat school within the city proper and since founding has had significant ties with Beacon Academy. The two academies work jointly to create a curriculum that prepares students specifically for Beacon's initiation exams and the rigors they will face after.

Yet, the primary and secondary schools have very little in common despite their strong ties. Where Beacon focuses on taking its time in producing the best possible hunters, gradually ramping up the challenge for students and keeping them all on the same course plan throughout their four years of schooling, Torch focuses on bringing students up to an acceptable level to be able to pass Beacon's Alternative Qualification Exams.

Less than half of students attending Torch finish a full four years in the school and earn the certificate that guarantees students the opportunity to attend the initiation exam of any secondary academy on Remnant.

Torch serves a crucial and unique role among the primary combat schools of the Kingdom of Vale, as it provides the most flexible curriculum amongst Vale's primary schools. Everything is specifically tailored to the individual students needs, even going so far as to bring up students late to starting huntsman training up to an acceptable level of competence.

Having done his own reading on the subject, Gage was confident that there were only three other primary combat schools that offered a similar flexible curriculum. All three of them were in Vacuo. Gage really adored what the kingdoms lack of governmental oversight sometimes lead to.

Along with a host of student grants, housing opportunities and its centralized location had made the modest school Vale's primary source of Beacon applicants. Be they poor, late to the race or experienced but with no formal training, the Torch lights the way forward for all.

Yet despite all this, Torch has never had the same reputation as Signal or Flare, with their focused curriculums and supposed tendency to put out high-grade huntsman.

Regardless, the school plays a key role in the kingdom's defense and has significant historical importance. The fight to get the school built in the city center was led by concerned huntsmen lobbying against Vale's city council, and proved a pivotal turning point in land-distribution laws within Vale. Most people would call this boring, but proper and fair land-distribution was _very_ important to the kingdoms continued prosperity.

 _And yet, not a single one of these history questions asked a single question related to Torch!_ Gage was livid. While the first half of his exam had at least required he think about how to answer the questions put before him- as trivial a question as "what is aura?" was- the second half had all proven to be multiple-choice questions.

The math and science questions had at least caused him to pause a beat. If he'd had to actually write out the answers to the math he'd have suffered. Gods, how he hated math. Building block of civilization or not. But to make the history questions so trivially easy? _Abhorrent. What neophytes was this exam intended for?_

Well, Gage already knew the answer to that question. He had studied for this after all. While secondary combat schools like Beacon had their initiation exams copyrighted and it was illegal to sell or distribute books or information regarding them, the same was not try of primary combat schools. This was allowed so that students could deliberately reach a base-line level of competency to be able to pass them.

Rather than make the exams as difficult as possible to deny students entry outright when they fail, they would instead check out what students had performed best on a given year. Both the academic and physical exams were easy enough to get good grades on overall, but that hardly meant anything. The process by which students passed the Alternative Qualification Exams were in impressing the professors who observed and tested you. This served two purposes, both allowing Beacon to pick and choose students who had great potential but weren't great yet, as well as to admit enough students on a given year if there was a drought of actual talent.

Not that all this knowledge abated his anger much. Gage continued scowling as he flew through the remaining history questions with ease.

* * *

 _What is he so angry about?_ Blake quirked her brow as she glanced at her target again from her ideal observation location- one row back, three seats to the left. Perfect angle for viewing his expressions without his notice. And he certainly was being expressive.

Blake could hear Gage furiously penciling in answer after answer on his exam sheet, seemingly frustrated with the questions. She couldn't quite identify why that was however, given that he didn't seem to find the questions themselves difficult. On the contrary, he seemed... annoyed that it was too easy?

 _Looking more and more like he was born to be an academic rather than a hunter_. Blake had already come to the conclusion that he likely fit into category two of the types of students she'd observed participating in the entrance exam. Those with limited personal funds and being late to train as hunters, but who had, some way or other, taken catching up very seriously.

She'd managed to get a fair deal of information on Gage from her observations thus far. Fortunately, the exams were easy enough that even if she hadn't been in a school for six years, she was more than smart enough to sweep through the exams questions. Blake had always prided herself on her intelligence, and it was gratifying to see that it held up even in a school environment.

 _Now... how to explain my reasons for becoming a huntress and my future goals._ Without _mentioning the White Fang..._

* * *

Gage stared down at the essay before him intently, pausing his pencil and scanning over everything he'd written to be sure he was satisfied. The section of paper was filled with his messy handwriting, written as small as he could manage, each line of writing rose and fell like an uneven tide as he erred in keeping his writing straight. He could likely have finished already, but... He had a personal vendetta to finish this section as thoroughly as possible.

Just because he regarded his past as empty and hollow, that did not mean there was no meaning to be found in the absence of his achievements. He himself was testament to the fact that failure often paved the way to real, lasting success.

Besides, writing this all out was vindicating. There was no reason to rush so he could go take a break and wait around. Reminiscing on just how far he'd come was calming.

Gage focused his eyes on a specific section. _"Failing Torch's initiation exams caused me to fall into a depression for nigh on half a year. But eventually I worked through it and realized that while I'd failed, there was a reason why: I was unprepared. Once I realized that, the solution was simple. I needed to prepare for the problems that I would encounter. It would take some time, a little bit of actual training, and a whole heaping of creativity and practice. But my goal of becoming a huntsman was technically closer than ever before..."_

It had been four years ago since he'd failed those exams. The thought sobered him. He'd gone into the exam underprepared, with only a short sword with three Dust cylinders and his own very lackluster physical abilities. While he was very skilled with Dust, he fell short in every other area.

At first, he was distraught and thought his dream was over before it had even started. What few friends he had, all aspiring huntsmen, ended up leaving him behind. Though it was more his fault than any fault of theirs. The ones who tried to stick with him had been driven away by his perpetual negativity. The others who had left on their own had better things to preoccupy themselves with. They were going to be training to be huntsman. They had no time for his moping...

Gage languished in his misery. He realized just how much of an idiot he could be- was, and always would be. He had known easily twice as much about Dust, aura and the grimm that any of his fellow 'trainees' had known. But his physical ability was easily only half of theirs. His knowledge, converted to mere trivia in the face of his inability to make use of it.

He spent over half a year in his depression. His family had noticed, of course they had. They didn't approve of his desire to be a huntsman, but that didn't mean they were happy to see him so destroyed over the matter.

It was only at his fathers insistence that he work part-time at a Dust shop that things had started to turn around. Gage had never gotten along with his father well, but he still admired how hard-working the man was, especially compared to himself. This was one of the few acts of consideration from him he truly appreciated. So he focused on doing his best in his new part-time job, and when the shop owner discovered his desire to become a huntsman and his aptitude for Dust, he'd offered him low-grade Dust sold only in bulk to companies.

The opportunity was more of a boon than Gage had known at the time, and he was immensely grateful for it. Low-grade Dust wasn't terribly useful in battle, but it made for an excellent chance to practice with Dust in a controlled environment at a fraction of the cost of higher-grade Dust.

With that as a kick-start, Gage renewed his efforts to become a huntsman. He spent several years practicing and refining his technique with Dust and bringing himself up to at least a tolerable level physically.

He had put off entering into Beacon when he turned seventeen, deciding that he wasn't quite ready yet. Instead he applied to Torch and was accepted on the grounds of, 'Significant self-improvement shown without the aid of a mentor, especially in applicants noteworthy aptitude for and creativity with Dust.' Torch had been useful for finally gauging his growth and helped with shoring up his numerous weaknesses.

For most of the year, he had practiced with Dust mostly by himself. He used it sparingly while sparring, to spare his wallet of too much suffering. He wasn't made of Dust, for Oum's sake!

As a result, he'd failed to win a single sparring match all year. A fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by the student body, who regarded him as an anomaly; something to be pitied or looked down upon.

That was fine though. They didn't understand, nor could they be expected to understand, the ignorant fools. Today, he wasn't going to hold back on the physical exam though. Just as he'd put his practice time to good use by focusing on his weaknesses, now he would put his lien to good use and impress observers with his strengths. Besides, seeing the shocked look on Cardin Winchester's face would be oh-so-sweet...

He hoped someone would take a picture of it. That would be amusing.

Gage noticed he was grinning widely and paused; he had gotten distracted with stroking his ego. It wasn't like he had an audience to do so for either, he noted as he nervously looked around the room at the students quickly departing. _Geh, I don't want to be last just because I let my head get lost in the clouds... again..._

Focusing on the second essay, Gage stared at the question a few moments. "Future goals," it asked him for. He tilted his head in thought, before smiling as an idea struck him. Putting down his pencil, he exchanged it for a pen.

Using a pen when answering an exam question was always a poor idea, as there was no erasing it. Wielding a pen to answer this question however would drive his point. With bravado and confidence filling him, he scratched out three words in large text as his response.

Surely after how candid he was answering the other question, they would indulge him this half-serious joke?

 _Probably not,_ He laughed internally. _Someone is definitely gonna be surprised when they reach the last page._

* * *

It was lunch hour now, and Blake Belladonna sat alone in the large cafeteria that was open to all the entrance examinees. Like any other busy cafeteria, the noise in the cafeteria was constant and she had to make an effort to resist her ears twitching and twisting every time a group of students started laughing. Still, it seemed not all the students had come to eat here, small blessing that it was.

Evidently some students had left campus in order to eat at one of the restaurants nearby. An advantage of having your school in the middle of the commercial heart of Vale, she supposed.

The food was fairly good for being mass-produced, and Blake bit down on her tuna-fish sandwich with pickles. Having fish on the menu certainly helped to improve her mood.

She was once again observing her target, who it now seemed was in significantly improved spirits. _Even though it took him so long to finish his exam? Another oddity._ He sat alone just like her, but seemed perfectly content with this as he speared some more noodles from his plate while reading from a magazine laying down upon the table. She'd briefly glimpsed the title, "Recent History and Archaeology Discoveries." Blake frowned, a little annoyed that he just kept reinforcing the stereotype.

That stereotype had been the most she'd managed to figure out despite her curiosity. No one had spoken with him yet, so aside from how expressive he was when spending time by himself, she had no real insights into his personality or why he'd rebuffed her offer of alliance before she could even propose it.

She had hit a roadblock. At this rate, none of her observations would be of any use...

Blake was broken from her thoughts as a figure sat down beside her. Startled, she quickly turned to ascertain the new threat, only to be met with light blue cat-like eyes that were almost a mirror of her own. Her face was framed by straight, deep purple hair that seemed to glow where the light struck off it and went down to her shoulders. A white bow was elaborately tied into her hair on the back of her head, two tufts coming up that almost resembled cat ears, and she wore two braids on each side of the bow.

The girl smiled with a soft, knowing smile as she kept eye contact with Blake even as the black-haired girls eyes continued to look over her, waiting patiently for her all the while.

Blake noted her facial features were, like most huntresses in training, beautiful, with a dainty nose and full rosy lips. She was extremely pale, with long slender limbs. Her clothing consisted of a well-fitted purple jacket with six buttons arranged down the front, and tight white-colored jeans concealed her legs all the way down to her purple boots. From her skirt extended a purple cat tail, which flitted back and forth with obvious amusement.

The purple-haired girl was...

"A faunus?" Blake murmured aloud, blinking and widening her eyes when she realized she'd actually vocalized her thoughts. The mysterious purple-haired faunus giggled softly, her eyes twinkling with amusement. Blake was flustered for a few moments.

Blake tried to clear the feeling by putting a hand to her mouth and clearing her throat. "Excuse me... can I help you?" She asked with trepidation, still taken off guard by the girl and wary of her intentions.

The mystery faunus put a hand to her mouth and gasped in realization, "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just that I thought Gage had managed to offend yet another person." She smiled with concern before offering her hand. "Iris."

Nonplussed, Blake automatically took the hand without thinking. "Blake. So..." It took a moment for her to process what Iris had stated as her reason for being here. Armed with that information, she hazarded a guess. "You're here to apologize for him?"

Iris's smile eased and she nodded. "Yes. He can be quite abrasive at times, as I'm sure you've found out. You were staring at him quite angrily."

To her credit, Blake didn't show any visible reaction to this, her gaze kept steadily on Iris's. Her cheeks however reddened slightly. "I was just curious," She deadpanned.

Iris nodded understandingly. "He is very strange, I agree."

Blake was being thrown off by Iris's behavior. She agreed she was here to apologize, but that didn't seem to be all based on her behavior so far. Still, this seemed like a good chance to learn more about Gage if she indeed knew him. "So. You know him?"

"Yes, I suppose you could say we're good friends," Iris said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Then... Could you tell me a little about him? As way of apologizing." She added calculatingly.

"Hmm." Iris made a show of putting a finger to her chin and looking skywards. "Maybe, if you can tell me why you're interested." Her expression took on a teasing note to it.

Blake considered the offer for a few moments, but her curiosity ultimately made the decision for her. "Deal."

"Alright... Why don't you tell me how you met? I haven't seen you around before, so you must be here for the exams." Iris relaxed and took to picking at her almost-forgotten plate of food while waiting.

"Yes. I saw him sleeping outside on a bench. Since no one else was going to wake him, I decided to help. We introduced ourselves, then he made to leave after letting me know that you need a partner for the physical exams. He seemed alright, so I asked him if he had anyone in mind already. He angrily said no and left." Iris's expression shifted from bemused to contemplative as Blake told her story.

Blake frowned. She was still confused, and even a little hurt. She was used to being the one ending conversations suddenly and walking away. She'd done so a few times when dealing with White Fang members who were overly friendly with her. Being on the receiving end of being rejected, not for her race, but for reasons she couldn't discern?

It stung more than she realized. Perhaps that was why she was so fixated on this?

She knew she would get over it if she had a few days, but the situation was still fresh in her mind. It didn't help that Blake hadn't done any reading since, an act which often let her unwind mentally. To de-stress.

Blake glanced again at the girl who claimed she was his friend, eyes widening as she realized something strange.

"Are you teaming with him?" She asked suddenly.

Iris unpursed her lips as she had been thinking about how to respond to Blake's story without betraying his trust, even though he would forgive her. She blinked and tilted her head quizzically before registering why Blake was asking. "Oh! Actually, I'm not here for the exam. I'll be graduating next year, and while I'm old enough to take the Alternative Qualification Exam and pass, I thought I might as well be thorough and finish my last year."

"I see." Blake trailed off, eyes wandering back to Gage, who was still focused on his magazine, before turning back to Iris with a new thought. "Are you two...?"

Iris bit her lip to hold back a sudden wave of laughter, her shoulders shaking mirthfully before she regained her self-control and wiped her eyes. "N-No... We aren't dating. Although I was considering implying it to tease. I can't keep the act up though...!" Iris suddenly put a hand to mouth to restrain the giggle fit that overcame her.

Blake felt her left eye twitch, any semblance of mysteriousness that the purple-haired faunus had evaporating with her laughter. She didn't quite know how to respond to the strange situation, but thankfully Iris soon was in control of herself.

"Actually, Gage and I are cousins."

Blake's eyes widened noticeably, her gaze going to the girls faunus trait before her head swiveled quickly over to Gage. She repeated this motion back and forth twice more before meeting Iris's eyes again. "Huh? But...?"

Iris glanced up at Blake's bow knowingly before speaking. "Well, it's not as though one can't hide their trait." Blake's eyes widened and Iris's grin taking on a teasing note. "But Gage isn't a faunus."

 _This is getting to be a lot to take in... And this sounds like a very private matter._ She closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. She could think about this later. "That's interesting, but I won't intrude. Can we get back on topic?"

Iris gave a nod, content that Blake wouldn't pursue the matter further.

"Why did he react so strongly to my question?" That was the question she'd been trying to figure out. Maybe she could lay this to rest if she got an answer.

Iris nodded seriously and faced Blake. "Gage was trying drive you away, so you wouldn't be disappointed or hurt by him later." Blake raised an eyebrow, internally scoffing at the notion that he could hurt someone that badly. "Weird, right? But he's disappointed a lot of people in the past. I can't tell the details, but he makes a conscious effort to avoid making friends now." Iris smiled faintly for a moment. "I'm guessing you made a... good impression on him. Even though he says he doesn't want friends, that does not make it true. So he tries to make people dislike him first. Does that make sense?"

Blake mulled over the explanation, her gaze naturally wandering to the young man they were discussing. He just so happened to be looking their way with an unreadable expression, his eyes fixated on Blake. When he noticed her looking back, he jumped slightly in his seat and made an obvious show of returning to his magazine while picking at his mostly-empty plate. Despite herself, she smiled a bit at the sight.

"It does." Blake said quietly. She furrowed her brow, unsure what to say next and brushed her hair back from the side of her head as she focused her thoughts. She had gotten lucky when Iris chose to speak with her. It told her enough about Gage as a person to know that, as unfriendly as he could be, he still had a considerate side to him. Nor would he irritate her by saying something racist in passing, if his faunus cousin's willingness to go out on a limb for him was anything to go by.

But with her curiosity having been partially satisfied and her newfound understanding for the teen, she was having second thoughts. There was no actual need for her to team up with him. It had only come about from her... temporary fixation upon the mystery he presented. Now that she was thinking properly, wouldn't it be easier for both of them if she left him to his own devices?

"If you're uncertain about teaming with my cousin, why don't I help you out?" Iris suddenly said, staring fixedly at Blake with that ever-mysterious, faintly amused smile. "I could talk to him for you."

Not for the first time, Blake was taken by surprise by the purple cat faunus. "Do you always meddle like this?" She murmured. This entire situation was perplexing, and Iris had controlled the flow of the conversation the entire way. Blake had hardly gotten in a word or even had to explain herself.

Iris almost broke into giggles again. "It's been a pleasure talking with you Blake," she said abruptly as she stood and grabbed her tray of half-touched food. "I'll be sure that Gage comes your way with an apology."

* * *

"Iriiiis... please? I said I'm sorry. What more do you want?" Gage whined pathetically.

"..." But he was only met with more silence.

Ten minutes. For ten minutes straight, Iris had kept silent and worked her way through her meal while Gage made numerous attempts to try and speak with her after she'd sat down across from him. At most she would gaze at him reprovingly when he would finish saying anything.

None of it worked! Apologizing. Explaining himself. Attempts at small talk. Talking about the exam. Complaining that she was being quiet had gotten him an especially strong glare, at which point Gage had almost given up.

 _Uggggh. Definitely angry. If I'd known that Blake was going to watch me so much that Iris would notice, I'd have tried to be more discreet._ He really didn't know where she got the older sister persona from. She was an only child after all, and until last year, they hadn't seen each other in almost five years. The only reasonable conclusion he could come to was that it was _instinctual_ in some way.

His cousin had changed a lot since they knew each other when they were younger. Before they had come into contact with each other again, Gage had always imagined that she would stay demure and quiet. While there were hints of that now and again, it usually came about when she was incorrect or messed up in some small way.

That happened every so often, but only because she was so confident in her assumptions. Assumptions that were often extrapolated from some small grain of information.

"Look, Iris. You shouldn't be so angry, she's not romantically interested in me, nor were the last three girls. It was only that one time..."

Extrapolations like assuming that because a guy and a girl were behaving strangely around each other it meant they were clearly into each other but unwilling to admit it! Really now. She would get embarrassed whenever she realized she was mistaken with her assumptions, but for some reason she was adamant when it came to those girls.

Iris closed one eye and gave him a questioning glance while holding up the last bite of her sandwich.

"Yes, it was only the one. The others were just angry, same as with Blake."

Iris rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Ugh. Okay, fine, believe what you will, I've already done a point-by-point breakdown to prove two of them weren't interested in me. And the last one had been picking a fight with me. Totally not a sign that she was interested in me."

Gage let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead. He didn't really want Iris to remain angry with him, she was one of the few people who he felt comfortable with because she didn't- usually- wordlessly expect him to understand what was wrong and solve it himself. She was the only person he could comfortably talk about his concerns with, without being worried he'd drive her away with his negativity.

Really, he was fortunate to have met her again when he entered Torch last year. He appreciated her candor and encouragement that came sans an empty platitudes.

' _Fine... She's made it clear she is angry and wants me to figure out what it is I have to do to make it up to her. I suppose I can use the old tinker and tink about this._ ' She was angry at him specifically because this was part of a recurring pattern of him sabotaging what Iris saw as potential relationships. What had she said last time he'd done so?

 _"Right. She told me that apologizing to her wouldn't patch things up with the person I'd hurt..."_

"Alright, I understand now Iris." Gage sat up straight, his expression significantly sobered. Iris glanced at him, saw his expresion and put down her fork properly, watching him with an unreadable expression as she waited.

"I will apologize properly to Blake for my behavior, later. It was... inappropriate of me, and I know I shouldn't have done it."

Iris blinked, her gaze remaining fixed on his. "And? How will you make it up to her?"

He sighed, closing his eyes and murmured listlessly, "I'll ask her to be my partner for the physical exam."

Iris's expression immediately brightened as she beamed with pride. "Good," she responded simply, resuming her meal.

Gage was seriously tempted to shoot back, tell her he didn't intend to be friends with Blake... but knew that saying as much was pointless. She already knew he'd be against the idea. All Iris really expected of him was to be on good behavior.

Saying anything rude now would just be banal self-indulgence. He'd just have to make an effort to... not get infatuated with her. Accursed hormones.

"So Iris, why are you here today? Class is out, it's a weekend and the Alternative Initiation Exams are going on." Gage asked placidly, playing with his fork by standing it up using one finger on the end.

"Oh, well, don't tell anyone, but... I came to watch the exams and to sneak a meal." Iris winked at him playfully, to which Gage sighed.

"I don't... think that's against the rules, but it certainly sounds suspect." He narrowed his eyes on her and pursed his lips before asking, "You're bored, aren't you?"

"Very." She said with a completely straight smile.

 _Explains a lot._ Gage's head drooped forward in exasperation.

* * *

 **A/N:** And that's the second chapter! I actually started working on this almost immediately after I posted the first. I'd really like to get through this prologue section quickly, so that everyone who stops in has a chance to see there's enough reading material to really bit into.

This chapter underwent a lot more changes mid-writing than the first one did. The entire cafeteria scene was nowhere in my script and came about naturally, aside from one hiccup that had me stop writing for half a day. I hadn't even planned to incorporate Iris into this story so early. When I realized a nameless character I was going to make use of as an exposition dump (I freely but regretfully admit to this.) could be better performed by Iris, who I already had designed but had ignored the idea of her being a Torch student despite that she's in-training.

I tried to keep things moving along while continuing to hint at Gage's character in concrete ways. I don't have the privilege of being able to read my writing with a fresh mind, so there's bound to be some oversights in pacing, but I strive to make a reason for why a scene occurs. In particular, Gage furiously monologuing about Torch Academy. Yes, he is a huge history nerd, and this will become a constant for him.

This chapter included a good deal more character interaction, as facilitated by Iris, who I hope you thought was an interesting character. Her character is fairly easy to establish, although she has plenty of backstory of her own and isn't a simple girl by any means.

Regarding Blake though... I'm trying to do my best to characterize some of her traits that aren't "reads romance novels and doesn't talk much." She still doesn't say much, but that is intentional and I tried to make it so what she says is to-the-point. She uses advanced vocabulary, and when she isn't specifically prepared for something gets easily thrown for a loop. She's also prone to getting fixated on something that annoys her if she doesn't have something to help reset her mind. I'm happy with it, but still worried it might seem a bit OOC. Still, I have my justifications and will stand by them.

Lastly, while I know my own monologue style bled through to both Blake and Gage, our PoV characters for this chapter, I tried to leave distinct ways of talking in their mind. Gage occasionally shouting in his mind, and Blake using phrases like 'targets' mentally over something as innocuous as school drama.

And because I know it's cliche to have a male main character who has a lot of gals develop crushes on them and I couldn't find a good time to say this, but Iris was actually wrong about most of those crushes too. She's just adamant because it'd be embarrassing to admit otherwise.

This chapter was meant to be longer, but I noticed that this was a really good point to end the chapter at and the length was satisfactory, so without further ado- Here you are! Next chapter, expect explosions.

-YearsLate


	3. V 00 Chapter 03

Written, 7/12/2018

Edited, 7/25/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from.

Beta read by my good friend, Myst Eternally.

* * *

Volume 00, Chapter 03.

Forgoing Pride

* * *

"Students!" A semblance-enhanced shout called out into the cafeteria, causing all chatter and clinking of silverware to cease. All attention in the cafeteria turned to the tall, bronze-skinned and muscular teacher female teacher who had called out. Wearing grey workout pants, a black tank top and with a grey jersey over her shoulders like a cape, Professor Gorgo was like the very embodiment of the mean-spirited, female PE teacher. She and several other wildly eccentric-looking educators stood at one end of the cafeteria.

"Listen up! The physical exam is beginning in just ten minutes, so wrap up quickly! If you aren't around when you are called up you will face immediate disqualification! It's your responsibility to show up!" All the huntsman trainees immediately started giving each other looks, murmuring starting to pick back up. The teacher turning around to the exit with a much quieter, "Carry on."

With that, the cafeteria became a whirl of motion as students stood up to leave. They chattered busily about the physical exam, bragging how well they would do or fretting over each other. Nearly forty students in all were rejoined by their missing numbers who had been off campus and moved as almost one cohesive mass.

Gage, Iris and Blake all followed along but hung back from the crowd. More than a few times Gage shot glances Blake's way, but this time she seemed content to ignore him, only once glancing back to show that she knew his attention was on her. He wasn't entirely keen on apologizing to her, but he had made his promise and what good was an apology that wasn't heartfelt? It would have to be the best he could manage, otherwise he'd remain indebted to her, given what Iris had likely promised her.

He supposed that was the danger of shooting first and leaving before any questions could be asked. It wasn't like he even knew her, so attempting to block her off early seemed a convenient way of sparing them both the trouble. But that had only made _more_ trouble for him. _Guess I should just get over it. Treat it as one of the many hazards involved with_ not _living in total isolation. Although, living in a box would probably be, ahem... suffocating._

* * *

As soon as the torrent of students entered through the doorway to the large combat room they immediately dispersed throughout and into the bleachers. The room was shaped like an amphitheater, with all the seating looking down upon the central area.

The space was large but like much of the school it was far from ornate. Plain, high-slung windows lined white walls behind the bleachers. What color there was in the room came almost solely from the various banners displaying the symbol of Vale down their length, and on the center of the far wall was a banner for each kingdom.

In the middle were three raised platforms that all extended to the back wall. Against the far wall were a number of Atlesian Knights lined up on each platform, with a number more standing in several doorway-like recesses in the wall. They waited for the trial, unaware that they were to be sacrificed to the altar of education.

Blake heard, rather than felt, as Gage's presence came her way. Iris wasn't with him, as evidenced by the fact that she had already entered the combat room. She kept her eyes directed away, waiting for him to make the first move. A tap at her shoulder was all it took to get her attention.

"Yes?" She asked nonchalantly, leveling a faint glower at him so he would know she was upset. Blake wasn't about to ask for the apology she was naturally owed.

He took a deep breath and faced her with what resolution he could muster. "I came to apologize, and to offer to team up with you for the physical exam, if you would like." He gestured to a spot down the hallway and took a step backwards towards it. She nodded and they both walked down the hall in silence, the only sound other than their quiet footfalls coming from the combat rooms open doors as students waited for the first leg of the physical exam to begin.

Once they were away from any potential listeners, Blake folded her arms under her chest and brushed her hair back with one of her hands, her glare intensifying as she waited a few moments for him. "Well? You had something to say?"

"Right..." With a wince, his expression strained and head tilted to one side as he gripped the hair that hung down from the motion. He stopped and straightened his posture quickly, seemingly becoming aware of his behavior, he almost mumbled a small sorry but stopped himself mid-way, having the good sense to stop apologizing for not apologizing.

Blake continued to bore her eyes into his silently, growing impatient with his foibling.

"Okay, so... How I behaved was reprehensible. Even though I had a reason for doing it, that doesn't make it a good one. I was... caught up, thinking too far ahead. That you wanted to befriend me or something. I'm guessing Iris told you already, but uh..." He paused for a moment to orient himself, swallowing nervously. "I'm not really good with making friends?"

Blake felt her left eye twitch. Now she was angry. "Who ever said anything about being friends?" She practically hissed."You're going to have to do better than that," She shook her head, her expression flat but her eyes were sharp. "All you did was explain what you've done wrong. I came with you expecting an apology, not an excuse."

* * *

Gage winced and lowered his head at her words. _She's right..._ He had been making excuses. Again.

Rationalizing, explaining, but never quite committing himself. Those were his go-to tools in most social situations. They'd never worked though when he had to _apologize._ Whether it was his family, his cousin, or the friends _he_ had abandoned. Each and every one he had disappointed at some point or another by making excuses for why he did something, but never apologizing and making up for it.

It seemed so laughably simple now. It was all clicking into place for him now that Blake had challenged him. Was he really so incapable of understanding his own failures without having them spelled out for him? At least he finally had an inkling of what he should do to make amends.

He was conflicted though. Right now, what he really wanted was to just throw the entire thing back in her face, with no regard for his prior intentions. She had been _expecting_ an apology from him, as though it was a given that he owed her as much. The notion grated on his nerves. Gage had never liked bothering others with his problems or expectations. It was frustrating to have someone else push their expectations onto him when all he wanted was to be left alone.

 _Isn't that just an unspoken expectation_ you're _pushing on her now?_ His mind fired back. _She had the grace to at least tell you what she expected, unlike you. Nor is it an unreasonable demand either._

Sighing at his own hypocrisy he glanced up, expecting to see Blake already gone but finding her still waiting there. One foot tapped at the floor while she quirked a brow when she noticed his glance. "Well?"

In truth, he couldn't continue as he had been. Resisting would only end with him destroying himself and the chance to become a hunter that he'd been working so hard for. That thought was encouraging, having already come so far to become a hunter, what more was making another compromise and letting go of the anger he barely understood?

From now on he would face many more expectations than something as trivial as being asked for an apology... His future team at Beacon. The teachers. Mission requests from people of all walks of life. The scorn of civilians when he invariably failed to be perfect.

Regardless of how gratifying it would be to scorn her here and now, it really would be nothing but banal self-indulgence. He wanted to be better than that. To stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There was only one thing to do now. It was still laughable that the answer really was so simple though.

Gage bowed, arms tight at his side. "I'm sorry, Blake," He said in a tired tone, but a hint of relief was contained in it. "It was wrong of me to do that, especially after you went out of your way to help me. Please, forgive me, and so I can make it up to you... I'd like to team up with you for the physical exam."

He couldn't see her expression from where he was, but Gage could tell the mood around Blake had changed. No longer was she tapping her foot and her stance had relaxed a little. Glad as he was, there was more he would have to tell her.

"I can't promise I won't make a mistake again..." He murmured those words bitterly. It was true, after all. He couldn't expect to change so quickly just because he wanted to. "But I'll apologize every time."

He was met with silence from her for half a minute before she finally spoke with weariness. "You... don't have to bow." Gradually, he raised his head until he was standing up straight. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes were no longer narrowed with anger. Blake drew a slow breath before looking away. "I'll forgive you. You don't owe me anything, but don't think that means you're off the hook either. I still expect you to team up with me." Amber eyes turned to lock with green again, her gaze clear. "But you had better learn from this. You aren't the only one who's afraid to meet people."

Gage felt a weight lifting from his shoulders, for once in a very long time. "Yes." He murmured, wondering if she was referring to herself or someone she knew. He didn't know, because he still didn't know her. He would have to change that if he was going to make this temporary partnership work. "Thank you, Blake. Um, although, do you think we'll work well together?" He laughed nervously.

Blake chuckled, smiling with faint amusement as she considered her response. "No. I don't." Gage gawked, blinking rapidly and unable to speak after having his own words thrown back at him. Blake's smile only grew as she watched him flap his lips uselessly. She turned and sashayed away in a much better mood.

He, on the other hand, was still gawking. "Wow. Uh, I guess she got the last laugh." _I_ really _hope the sashaying isn't intentional on her part..._

* * *

Blake Belladonna was finally at peace. She had all she could ask for in this moment. Specifically, companionable silence and the comfort of a book in hand. Notably, it wasn't the one she had brought with her. While a... not insignificant amount of the lien she brought with her when she came to Vale was spent on books, many of these were used. Even then she had already worked her way through them all. All she had left were books to reread.

Fortunately, her temporary partner carried several with him at all times. 'Can never know when you'll need a good book,' he had said like they were survival equipment or rations. All it had taken was a small query to find out if she could borrow one of them and Blake had something new to read.

Her choices were two history novels- one about the history of Vale's natural barriers and walls of all things- and the third was a romance novel. The choice had been obvious. While it lacked the maturity and depth that were characteristic of her favorite books, it was by no means a poor companion. It had been slightly amusing that he'd brought a romance novel with him, but given her own taste in literature Blake decided it wisest to refrain from saying more than a sarcastic quip.

Blake had already finished the combat trial with little difficulty, even while not trying her hardest. No reason to do so when it would draw her unwanted attention, although the cousins were certainly impressed. No, all she had to do now was wait and watch. Curious as she was about her temporary partners weapon and fighting style, she withheld her questions for the time being. It would be more efficient to observe him in a fight.

It was merely a byproduct that she got extra time for reading as a result, of course.

"Lee Enfield, down to stage two!" A semblance-enhanced shout called out. Blake glanced up, since the last name was the same as Gage's. She did not however expect for him to be the one standing up.

"Well, that's me. Guess I'll go show up Cardin now." Surprised, Blake looked over _her_ new book curiously to her 'partner', but he was busy preparing. Instead she turned her glance to his cousin, who was already looking her way with her near-constant smile.

"Gage is his middle name," Iris explained as soon as eye contact was made. Blake blinked before frowning. He preferred to be addressed by middle name? Actually, she had met very few people with middle names to start with. Another unusual trait.

Gage stood up from his bag with his back to Blake, evidently fitting something over his right arm and with a book under the other arm. "You know." "I don't know," Iris chimed in before Gage continued. "I never did understand why middle names aren't more prevalent. Name kids by color code, and huntsman team names are based on the first letter in a name. It would be sensible to throw a middle name in there, I'd say." He sighed and shook his head as he pulled the gauntlet on tight and made to step away.

"Good luck, _Lee_!" Iris beamed at him while he just looked back at her with a deadpan expression as he went down the steps to the combat arena, with... nothing more than a gauntlet and the oversized, metallic book in the other hand. _Okay, now I don't know what to expect..._

"Iris." The girl in question turned back to look at Blake with faint surprise. "Are those his weapons? They're unusual."

"Oh, right... You've never seen Gage fight before." Laughing nervously, Iris looked away blushing slightly. ' _What a strange thing to forget about._ ' Blake shook her head slightly, once again bewildered at how quickly Iris's mysteriousness disappeared.

"No, I haven't. How exactly does he fight, though?" Blake lowered _her_ book into her lap as she asked, focusing on the conversation. "Is he strong?"

With a quizzical expression and several tilts of her head back-and-forth, the purple cat faunus finally answered. "Depends on what your definition of strong is. Gage is a really strong Dust mage, but that's about it. Everything else he does is supplemented by Dust."

Now Blake was confused. There weren't many Dust mages in the White Fang so she had limited knowledge regarding them, and they were already rare to begin with. But what would that even mean? Perhaps his semblance worked well with Dust? Not that she often did so, but Blake was well aware of how effective it was using Dust in tandem with her own semblance.

"What does he do with it then? Combine it with his semblance?"

Iris gave that mysterious smile again. "He converts ground Dust straight into attacks of an equivalent element."

Blake just deadpanned at Iris. "That's something anyone with aura can do."

The grin on Iris's face only grew. "Yes."

"Very helpful." The sarcasm only made Iris giggle. Staring for a few seconds longer, Blake realized it would be more productive to pay attention to the arena. _Not getting any easy answers there._ At least there was still the fight to observe.

With her attention now on Gage's back as he made his way to his designated training area, Blake noticed there were others watching him. She could hear the sound of chatter, and even some laughter, while others pointed him out for their companions. At least half of the student bodies attention was on him now. With the noise they were making it was impossible for trainees only here for the exam to not notice the attention.

 _So much for keeping a low profile,_ Blake thought ruefully.

One particularly large student in elaborate armor with a bird insignia on the front plate jeered at Gage, causing some of the students centered around him to laugh briefly while others throughout the room just glared at the big one. The green-clad boy just shrugged it off, even walking with a bit more pep.

"Is he not aware of the attention he's getting?" Blake questioned, narrowing her eyes in disapproval like others were.

"Oh, no, he definitely noticed it, and he hates it. But Gage has barely used any Dust all year." Iris shrugged. "So he hasn't won a single sparring match."

Blake furrowed her brow. "So much for maybe being strong," she remarked bitterly. It was difficult to control her annoyance now, finding out that her partner wasn't altogether competent.

Smiling, Iris leaned close and patted Blake's shoulder, earning her a small glare. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll blow you away with his performance." She gasped and stood up. "Speaking of which! I should take pictures of the reactions!" Just like that, Iris took off with scroll in hand, leaving Blake behind to observe.

* * *

Making last minute preparations for the fight he was about to get into, Gage glanced over both his weapons. Over his right arm was his Dust gauntlet, Grasp. He knew his supply of Dust for it was fine, but he prodded the weapons internal mechanisms with his aura and found that they responded properly. All good there.

Hefting the Dust caster he held in his left hand, he poked the internal Dust cylinders in it the same way and nodded in satisfaction. The weapon, shaped like a magic tome of all things, had a series of piano key-like triggers that could be pressed while gripping the 'book' by the spine. Operating the triggers would rotate the internal Dust cylinder to select a Dust type or release a measured quantity of the Dust into the 'firing chamber' of the weapon. He was proud of his unusual weapon, and the amount of Dust it could carry easily quadrupled the standard Dust caster.

It was also irrationally dangerous, but that's the entire reason the weapon was all-metal and locked tight. Destroying it with external blows would be a ridiculous feat, and misfires did not occur because of how mechanically reliable it was.

Despite his last minute checks, it proved hard to refrain from tapping his right foot impatiently as Gage waited for the call to start the fight. _Keep it together, o' great wizard. You have your plan._ This phase of the exam was straight-forward. Upwards of twenty outdated Atlesian Knights would be sent piece-meal to fight the entrant on a timer, with improved performance being rewarded with more of the Knights entering the fray. Your goal? Eliminate as many of the robots as quickly as you can while sustaining minimal injuries.

Well. Large-scale destruction just so happened to be his specialty! Really, it'd be easier for him if they would just go ahead and toss all the Knights at him at once. Alas, even if he asked the teachers to, they would not. Protocol and all. Although, the professors did have good reason not to beyond that. In order to make it into Torch in the first place he'd used his semblance to show that, regardless of his lackluster physical abilities, he still had potential and had harnessed it too.

None of the teachers ever doubted him from then on, but the students who had not seen his semblance in action all seemed content to write him off. Really now, how daft could you be? Judging the strength of an opponent only on what they hadn't done seemed a poor means of measurement. Aside from some wiser students who withheld judgment and those here specifically for the exam his peers seemed to have decided that he was weak, and that was that. Daft.

Speaking of daft though. Cardin Winchester! Ahh yes, that metaphorical ape of a man. Gage was still hoping someone would take a picture of his reaction. He would love to set that as a randomized scroll background. Maybe Iris will?

* * *

At the very top of the arena's bleachers stood the observing professors who weren't involved in coordinating the physical exams. Chief among them were two headmasters. Ozpin of Beacon Academy and Denslow of Torch Academy. The two men spoke with the familiarity of long-time business partners as they discussed the students fighting down below to demonstrate their prowess.

"The young man who just stepped up is young Mr. Enfield, correct?" Ozpin queried without glancing his fellow headmasters way, his eyes focused on the boy below. His first impression of the boy was that he was unusual. But he would need more than just a first impression or even an after-report of his performance to assess the boy, based on what he'd read from the dossier.

He would give him some credit for the green he wore though. Him and the magenta-eyed boy too.

"That's right, Ozpin. Has he caught your attention? He's most unusual." Denslow chuckled slightly, reminiscing for a moment. Lee Enfield had once applied to Torch when he met minimum required age, but he was woefully inadequate. Armed with no more than a short sword with three Dust cylinders, once he had ran out of Dust his first Qualification Exam run had basically been over. It wasn't unusual to see students like him give up on becoming a huntsman altogether.

Instead, he had apparently spent several years training by himself. Despite being of age to apply to Beacon he had applied to Torch once more, though on a much stronger note. Curious as to his decision, Denslow had inquired him why come to Torch at his age. The boy had then proceeded to explain his reasoning in-depth, leaving the headmaster bemused. But his explanation was best summed up with his first words, " _Slow and steady._ "

"Hm," Ozpin finally murmured in response. "Mr. Enfield seems interesting for a number of reasons. Despite being an exceptional Dust mage for his circumstances, he is making an effort to avoid overrelying on that. He doesn't come across as emotionally resilient, yet displays uncharacteristic determination to try again. And..." Ozpin shifted his head the slightest bit, focusing on the black-haired faunus he had become acquainted with. "I don't quite know what to make of his acquaintance Ms. Belladonna, but it is an interesting development."

Nodding his head, Denslow murmured yes a few times, a verbal tick he displayed while thinking. "Well, let's just see how he performs. It's been a while since I've seen him use his semblance after all."

* * *

"Ready?" A short, white lab coat-clad man known as Professor Yertle called out at Gage once all the knights had finally lined up. The man Gage gave a nod to the teacher. "Then, begin!"

 _Cycle earth Dust, load three doses. Cycle fire Dust, load two doses. Mix for fireball effect. Admixture one dose wind Dust to direct scatter of earth fragments. Manifest._

The green clad boy remained standing still, staring down the approaching Atlesian Knights while his fingers danced over the buttons on his Dust tome, operating the mechanisms to select the Dust he wanted to load one by one and create the Dust spell he planned to use. The method was less time-efficient than mixing Dust in advance, but the incredible versatility it brought with it was well worth the price for him.

To most of the onlookers though it looked as though Gage had gotten cold feet, nervously tapping his fingers over the "weapon" he always carried into battle. Most quickly lost interest; there were actual fights going on to pay attention to and they assumed this would be little more than a thrashing for the bookworm.

When the robots had covered half the distance of the stage Gage pressed one last button and his Dust tome glowed with the tell-tale signature of primed Dust. He flared his aura, slowly shifting between green and white like a foggy haze. The light glow was drained away from his Dust-caster and traveled into and through his aura. The energy snaked its way to his right hand and within a moment Gage was gripping a lightly-burning, condensed sphere of earth.

With a cocky grin, Gage took a poor-man's imitation of a pitchers stance and threw the sphere forward. It traveled forward towards the tightly-packed group of knights, who slowed their advance and parted in the middle, an attempt leave an opening for the orb to pass through. Contrary to the expectations of the AI, the orb exploded into flaming shards directed at the mass of them. The shards perforated their armor, rocking them with small detonations and tearing the robots apart. Within an instant, each robot was thrown on the ground by the force of the detonation. Several of them were no more than scrap metal.

The silence that followed the explosion was broken by a shout from the audience. "That was AWESOME!" a girly voice squealed out. With the spell of silence over, murmuring broke out throughout the amphitheater. Apparently his peers were impressed. _Well, good! Fear me!_

Standing up straight, he Dusted his hands off with a satisfied smile. That smile quickly turned into a frown when two of the remaining Atlas robots rose back up, programming urging them onward. Sighing, Gage ambled over to the remaining bots to finish them off. One he disposed of with an aura-laden backhand, but the other grabbed his arm before he could do the same for it, throwing him off balance. In a panic, he expended a charge of electrical Dust from his gauntlet, causing the robot to seize up. Pulling it closer by the grip it had on his arm, he raised his tome overhead before smashing the bots head with it.

Sighing with the lingering disappointment of not quite destroying all eight bots with one blow, he turned his attention back to the new group that was approaching his way. All twelve remaining bots. _Good, that makes it easy to get a perfect grade._ He thought with a hint of glee, cycling to his electrical Dust. ' _Now how should I go about zapping all of them at once without wasting too much lien?_ It was a bit unfair to the other students that this test would be so easy for Gage, so perhaps he ought to refrain from utterly destroying the bots with Dust alone. Not that it would make him look any good when he inevitably gets clobbered for holding back on the Dust, but if that was the price to prove he wasn't some one-trick pony, so be it!

* * *

 _He fights like a brute,_ Blake groaned internally as Gage literally crushed the head of another of the robots he had damaged or incapacitated with a bolt of lightning. He was good at that apparently; but still got hit every other time one of the remaining bots made to attack him despite how sluggish they were. The performance he put on was interesting, but he possessed little skill. There was no finesse in his motions, and he was practically pedestrian in the pace he moved at, never going above a fast walk.

None of it was consequential though. With two attacks he'd halved the number of opponents against him. The rest he'd finished off with punches and his book, all to show that he wasn't useless without his semblance. Blake could commend him for trying at least.

Finishing off the last bot, Gage punted its head away needlessly while leaving the arena in a chipper mood. Blake shook her head in wry amusement and watched his cousin run up to him and start showing off the pictures she had taken, prompting his laughter.

 _That's one test down,_ Blake mused as she watched them climb the steps up towards her. He wasn't strong, he had too many weaknesses for that. But he was well-prepared. Even if Blake didn't need a strong ally to pass the physical exams, it was still comforting to have someone she knew, even just a bit, for an ally.

Gracelessly, Gage flopped onto one of the bleachers nearby, theatrically sighing. "Who would have thought that tearing off the heads of Atlesian robots was tiring work?" He asked the universe at large. Blake didn't deign his rhetorical question with any more response than a shake of her head.

Iris sat down beside him but contented herself with watching the exams continue on.

"That was your semblance?" Blake went ahead and asked directly, holding up the book she'd been reading to hide her expression of curiosity.

"Oh, right... Guess the cat's out of the bag." Blake winced at his pun, but he was looking at Iris instead, who deadpanned at him and stuck her tongue out disapprovingly. Realizing what he'd said, he paused a moment. "Huh. That. Was not intentional."

 _Scared me for a second there..._ Blake sighed mentally. Looking between the jostful cousins, she felt a little envious of their relationship. _These two really get along well..._

Gage sat up straight while straightening his jacket and glasses. Blake had seen him do this twice already and had dubbed it lecture mode. "Anyways, I call my semblance Casting. Every so often, a member of the Enfield family is born with it, kind of like a certain famous family of Dust monopolists." Gage rolled his eyes, earning a snort from her. She was familiar with the Schnee families semblance, they were too famous not to know it even if only the two daughters of the family possessed it.

"What Casting lets me do is use my aura to convert Dust into attacks and other effects that I can manipulate the shape or function of before directing it. I know, it doesn't exactly sound like a big improvement over just using Dust straight up, and the way I do it takes up time thinking. But I think the results speak for themselves."

"You mean that staring wasn't you trying to intimidate the robots?" Blake asked sarcastically, tilting _her_ book down for effect.

"No, I was just trying to blow them up with my mind. Which I did succeed at accomplishing I will add." Gage put his hands out to his side with a satisfied expression, as though waiting for compliments. Blake carefully kept her expression neutral, not wanting to gratify the boys sense of humor too easily.

"Continuing then," he sighed. "My semblance is also extremely efficient at converting Dust. Even expert Dust mages leave behind a small residue of unspent, drained Dust. My semblance is so efficient it uses all the Dust in whatever container I use. Makes cleaning my weapon a lot easier," He grinned shamelessly.

"That's interesting. What about its weaknesses?" She narrowed her eyes the slightest bit, the only tell for her curiosity. Even with the book hiding her expression from him though he still managed to catch on to her intent.

"Tsk tsk, Blake. You're supposed to let your ally reveal their weaknesses of their own volition, that way they never suspect you." He chided her, waggling his index finger at her.

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance as her eyes focused on the offending digit. What? Was he joking or being serious? That was actually good advice, too. "I was doing no such thing," she feigned while swatting his hand away.

Before their arguing could go any further, an orange-haired girl ran up the steps despite dragging along a black-haired boy with a single magenta streak. Both of them were completely at odds with each other; Where the girl was energetic and cutesy, the boy was listless and emotionally reserved.

Their clothing styles were also at odds. The girls manner of dress could best be described as colorful. White, black, some blue and red, and possibly the pinkest skirt Blake's ever witnessed. The boy on the other hand wore an elaborate but subdued green tailcoat with black and brass trimming.

The girl of the two stared with intensity at Gage, while her friend Dusted himself and stood up with exhaustion. Iris and Blake gave each other a look, both wondering what was about to happen.

"Was. That. Your. Semblance?" She asked seriously, her eyes only growing more intense.

"Er, sort of?" Gage leaned back, unsure if he should flee or not.

Her reaction was not one any of them expected, spare one. Crestfallen, she spun around on the spot dramatically before falling back against her friend who caught her expectantly and patted her head. "Rennyyyyy! It was his semblance! That means he can't teach me how to throw fireballs and shoot lightning!" She sobbed out.

"Uh..." Gage mumbled uselessly, unable to make heads or tails of the situation.

"Hello, and you are?" Iris spoke, taking charge of the situation with a smile.

"Lie Ren." The green-and-magenta boy spoke. "And this is my friend..."

"Nora Valkyrie!" She suddenly sprung back to life, practically knocking her friend down in her enthusiasm. "Oh! I'm so excited to meet a wizard finally! You know, I've always wanted my own castle! And a pony. Oh, and to meet a wizard who _rides_ a pony!"

Gage just sat there, utterly confounded at what was happening. "Um. What? I'm not a wizard, not that that wouldn't be cool, and uh, I don't have a pony either..." Despite his feeble efforts to interject and say something, the girl continued.

Blake decided that now would be an appropriate time to slowly scoot away and keep reading _her_ new book. If Lie Ren was any evidence, getting caught up with Nora would be detrimental to her reading time.

* * *

Was she oblivious, or was this her secret means of making friends? D... Dastardly. This girl is definitely dangerous, if her listless friend and his occasional corrections to her ranting was any sign. _I am not ready for this._

He only hoped that if she asked to be friends, she wouldn't get hurt when he turned her down. Gage was ready to try and be friendlier with people now, but the concept of saying you're friends and then instantly being friends was absurd to him. Friendships were strong bonds, forged from longevity, a desire to support one another despite inherent differences, and a willingness to apologize for ones own mistakes. Gage could only tick off number two with most people, and that was more a quirk of his personality. One which had eroded quite a bit in the last few years.

Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself again though. He would... address it if it came up, and try to explain himself. Maybe apologize and say he isn't ready? _Odd how the loquacious one is actually the one who's harder to read. I honestly don't know if I'd hurt her feelings. Ren over there seems fairly predictable in his behavior, subtle as he is. I'm pretty sure he'd be the unhappier of the two if I turned away Nora's friendship._ They really were an interesting duo, and both of them were highly dependent on each other even. If anyone he's ever seen deserved to be called friends, it was these two... Gage couldn't tell if he was envious or relieved he didn't have something like this.

Unfortunately for him, both Iris and Blake were enjoying listening to him try and keep up with the bombastic, colorful girl. Blake with a cross between horror and relief, probably at not being the target, and Iris occasionally asking her own questions to egg Nora on further.

Soon enough, the first leg of the physical exams were complete. Nora had already gone up before any of them, but each of them remembered her performance because it was so explosive. Ren on the other hand almost went unnoticed by the class despite his skill.

Between these two and Blake, Gage was fairly sure he wouldn't stand a chance against any of them in a drawn out battle in a flat arena. Maybe with some terrain he could use it to his advantage. But without it, Blake and Ren were so agile and used two weapons in battle, and every hit from Nora hurt. Not being overwhelmed by any one of them would prove difficult. When would be the appropriate time for him to attack, even? With what? Those would be issues he would have to deal with eventually, having put them off for the last year to shore up his ability to hold off lesser foes without using Dust.

It was scary how outclassed he was, but thankfully they seemed to be among the strongest students taking the exam. Being outclassed by the best students, each of whom individually likely had easily four times the experience in actual fights as he did? Yeah, there was little shame in that. If anything, it gave Gage a concrete goal.

"Alright, students!" A semblance-enhanced voice called out once again; it was the 'PE teacher' Professor Gorgo again. "Back into the hallway, we'll be needing the entire floor space and will be setting up a pair of mazes! No students are allowed inside the room until it is their turn. You'll be getting no freebies for how to get through the maze by watching others. Everything has to be your own hard work! While you're in the hall, I suggest talking with your peers! There are an even number of students here now, and I expect that each of you will have found a partner by the time this part of the physical exam is complete. Alright; move, move! Into the hall!"

While shuffling out into the hallway with Blake following him, Gage mentally noted that it was never specified students weren't allowed to ask others who had finished the maze for advice. _Wonder why. So they don't get wise and try the idea because it was forbidden? Because it's actually allowed? It might even be so students are cautious about it. Anyone with ill intentions could easily pass on unreliable info, although that would be about as petty as stealing a small bag of potato chips and calling it revenge._

"Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, you're up!" Huh. Gage glanced over at Blake, who had once more tilted _his_ book down in order to take note of what was happening.

"I have a hunch they'll pick students who seem to have obviously teamed up first." He said while making brief eye contact with her.

"Hm. Plausible." She responded and returned to _his_ book, as though his answer had totally satisfied her curiosity. Gage chuckled a bit. His fellow bookworm was much easier to get along with than he had expected. He really was regretting wronging her so quickly, given how easy it was to be in her company.

Heck, maybe he'd even get a chance to spend more time with her and- _Stop. Cease. Desist. Halt, in the name of all that is good and Blake... Yes, that one's a joke. Now that you're paying attention, me. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Again._

Gage opted to distract himself by pulling out one of the history novels he'd been reading lately and lean against the wall beside Blake. " _A History of Vale's Barriers, Natural and Man-made."_ Gush. Now this he could safely get ahead of himself with! Ohohoho.

 _I really should break this habit of being weird to avoid embarrassment. It's embarrassing, which undercuts the entire point._

Snickering came from beside him, per his dear cousin Iris who had prior been searching the Cross Continental Network out of boredom. She glanced at Blake a moment before looking back his way and waggling her eyebrows knowingly. With no way to stop her, he just scoffed and occupied himself with his reading.

 _I can't tell if they're getting along or not._ Iris contemplated with amusement. She was happy to see her long-lost cousin finally making something that could vaguely be considered a friend. Blake's serious, yet considerate demeanor was ideal in her view. _Hopefully they can become actual friends._

* * *

Blake had only managed to get through another six pages of _her_ new book before she and Gage were called to the amphitheater. _Guess his hunch was right._ When they stepped inside, they found the bleachers had receded into the ground somehow and in the middle of the room were two very tall, blocky white structures with a single entrance on the front of each. _Are these the mazes? They certainly are... distinct._

She had been told about this part by Gage. Apparently, they were being tested to see them use talents other than their combat abilities. Analyzing how agile they were, their creativity and problem-solving skills... Any advice the professors would give were bound to be spoiled for Blake. That was an advantage she didn't begrudge however.

One of said professors stepped forward. Blake recognized him, the short lab coat wearing professor who had observed Gage's fight. "Welcome," He said in a nasally voice. "You are to proceed through these mazes to the opposite side as quickly as you can manage. Try to keep aware of where you are and not get confused by the barren walls. You are not allowed to go over the walls to advance forward, however you may destroy them if you so choose, though you will attract attention to yourself that may slow you down. You also have the choice to sneak your way through. There are several doors inside the maze that can be operated with your aura, if your control is high enough and you have the time. You will be rewarded for your performance based on your speed, and effectiveness with your chosen methods. Good luck, students." The short professor nodded and stepped back, taking out a stop watch alongside another professor. "Go!"

* * *

 _Hm..._ Another silent robot caught Blake's attention as she snuck through the maze undetected. She was nearly to the end, but had so far managed to avoid detection by checking past every corner and very quietly moving past each robot that waited down the hall and taking advantage of the doors as shortcuts forward, but only when they didn't lead into the arms of a robot. The test made sense as a way to figure out a students ability to maneuver through a complex environment, but it still felt strangely clinical. Nevertheless, with the exit door in sight, Blake hastened her steps slightly and departed the maze.

"Time! Hmm... Yes, you made good time Ms. Belladonna, just about ten seconds slower than Mr. Enfield." Blake was surprised by that and turned to look at him, fiddling with his Dust tome. "And you did so without being detected at all. Very impressive. Mr. Enfield woke up each and every drone. If not for immediately having an attack ready for each and maintaining awareness of the direction to the exit, you would have been slowed down dramatically. Good job remaining aware of your goal, Mr. Enfield. Alright, both of you are dismissed."

Though slightly miffed she had been beaten in time by Gage, Blake decided to let it roll. If his harsh breathing was anything to go by, he'd chosen the more difficult option still. "That was... interesting..."

"It was very clinical." She remarked, having been thinking as much already.

"Sure that wasn't just... the white walls?" He asked sarcastically and shifted his head up to look at her while she quirked her head in serious consideration.

"No. It was designed to be easy, more a test than a challenge. Sneaking through wasn't hard."

"Sneak...? That's gotta take a lot of talent." He said, standing up with his hands on his hips and no longer panting.

"Hm. I suppose." Blake decided not to correct him on the matter; while she did have a few inherent advantages for sneaking around, stealth was something one learned to do rather than simply being born with. Aptitude or not. "Did you plow your way through?" She asked with a hint of amusement.

"Heh. Heh. Heh. When your only real advantage is that you're a walking artillery emporium, every problem starts to look like an exercise in demolition." He grinned broadly and waggled his finger, though she could tell there was a hint of self-deprecation in his words. Blake didn't know if she wanted to pursue asking about that though...

She sat down against the wall while Gage looked around before fishing out his scroll and nodding. "Iris messaged me, she's left for the day, apparently she has some things she has to do while there's still daylight. She left a message for you, too." He turned the scroll for her to see. 'Thank you for spending the day with me and my cousin. I'm glad you two are working well together, and I know you'll do great at Beacon when you get there! P.S. If you want my scroll number, ask Gage.'

Blake thought it over for a moment and shrugged, figuring there was no harm in getting closer with a fellow cat faunus and huntress-in-training, especially since she would not be seeing her in Beacon for a year. As she added Iris's number to her scroll, Gage saw at the pristine and empty contact list by accident.

"New scroll?" Blake glanced at him warily for a moment, but decided there was no harm in going with that logic. In truth, she didn't buy it to get a newer model, but because she would need a new scroll for her new life. Giving him a nod, he nodded likewise before sitting down against the hallway wall himself, leaving an obvious space between them.

They sat and read in silence again, though this time was different. No longer was Iris there adding her own snark and teasing remarks, and their new acquaintances Ren and Nora seemed to be busy making friends elsewhere.

A few students came to ask one or the other of them if they had a partner, apparently having performed well enough in the combat trial that they got interest. Each time they would just apologize, say they already have a partner and return to reading.

Despite the continued din of students still trying to find a good partner for the last leg of the physical exam, they spent their time in pleasant silence. Having gone so early for this leg of the exam and already having partners, they had little else to do but read.

Eventually though, Gage broke the silence between them. "You can keep borrowing that until Beacon if you like," He said with a glance at _his_ book she was engrossed with reading. "Contrary to you finding it funny I had that novel, it seems you're enjoying yourself."

Blake smiled internally; he didn't know the half of it, not that she needed to inform him of that. "I'll take you up on that. Be sure to pass so you can retrieve it."

"Puh-lease." Gage waved his hand at her dismissively. "Beacon knows they need this wannabe wizard."

She paused her reading and glanced at him because of his remark, deciding to at least inquire about this negative self-remark. "Why exactly that theme anyways?" It was surprising that his first reaction was to jump slightly, eyes open wide like he'd said something wrong.

"Uhh, well. I just think the image of a wizard is pretty cool. Plus with my semblance, the theming was too good to pass up... Y'know?" Laughing nervously, he looked away from her. His explanation was not particularly enlightening, but it did show that he was nervous for some strange reason. Blake scrutinized him for a few moments but once more decided to let it go, though not without giving her opinion.

"It does fit you. But you could do to be a bit more confident." She said honestly, though her gaze returned to _her_ book.

"Uh, thanks..." Blake could almost could see the cartoon sweat drop roll down his forehead.

* * *

 **A/B** : This chapter would have been up earlier if not for a spot I stopped dead in it for two days. This felt like a good spot to end this chapter, even though I said it would be the last one for this introduction volume. I'll have to figure out how to make the last chapter still feel fresh for as long as this has run on for.

These exams were meant to be more extensive than this originally but after putting some of it into theory, I decided against that and made them sensible. The kind of thing teachers could watch and see the students performance. This chapter is 8,000 words, but was originally meant to run to around 12,000- but that's easily double the length of the other two chapters I've written, and as much as I love really big updates to stories I read, having each chapter be a bit contained is sensible in its own right too.

I'm really starting to notice how much of an issue I have with purple prose. Whenever I try to avoid it though I feel like I'm leaving certain other details unnoted. Guess that's what it means to learn first-hand how to write stories, huh?

Fun fact: Gage's fighting style was actually the seed that motivated me to write this story. He has an incredibly elaborate one, but I won't detail it today, that will be for the last chapter of our introduction.

So, now Ren, Nora and even Cardin have been mentioned and got some air time. The former two obviously qualified into Beacon through one of these Alternative Qualification Exam. I think Ren and Nora will have an interesting dynamic with Gage. It's hard for a character like him not to be envious of the relationship they share, but also feel wary of someone as friendly as Nora. Ren, while someone he feels a bit of kinship with, is so strongly connected to Nora that it leaves Gage wary of hurting Nora's feelings. Won't say more than that, but... it will likely come up again at some point.

Given how I described the category of 'lucky' and wealthy students, I thought that Cardin was a shoe-in for that type. He won't be completely one-dimensional, but I thought it would be interesting to mention his belligerence early. He does stand out, as ordinary as he is compared to the main cast.

So are Blake and Gage friends now? The answer is a no. Amiable would be the best way to put their relationship now. In a way, this is one step forward, after having taken twenty steps back. He's running a deficit still.

Iris was not a one-off character, but she will be doing her own things in the background. She's a helpful gal, sure... and that may feel a bit like she exists only as a tool, but I can say that there are actual reasons for her behavior.

Well, that's enough of that now. I will see you next time folks, thank you for reading.

-YearsLate


	4. V 00 Chapter 04

Psst. This is the last chapter of the first volume. If you're reading this, please leave a review letting me know what you liked or disliked about my writing thus far.

Written, 7/19/2018

Edited, 7/26/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from.

* * *

Volume 00, Chapter 04.

Ships in the Night

* * *

 _This book has been much better than I was expecting it to be._ Blake hummed as she flipped another page in _her_ new novel. It still wasn't the type of book she would have picked out first if given more choices, but there was no use in denying that the story was more relatable than the escapism of some of her more... adult-themed books.

Even if she had little personal knowledge of if teenage love dramas really worked like they did in this novel. _Wonder if this says anything about Gage._

Her attention was brought away from the page before her when she heard the distinctive footfalls of her partners return. The mage had a distinct fast walk that was easy to recognize, doubly so for her excellent hearing. It was good that he had returned, teachers were already calling up students for the team trial now.

Blake finished the paragraph she was on before bookmarking her progress and putting the book down. "Finally aware of the world around you again?" she snarked at her partner. After about an hour reading quietly, he had suddenly wandered off to 'use the facilities' with a dazed expression on his face. Now that he'd returned, he no longer looked like he'd lost all sense of time and identity.

The scrutinizing frown he leveled on her made her tense up unintentionally before he responded, "Yes. But I'm not sure how it is that you can read for so long and not be adversely affected by it. What's your secret?"

Blake smiled with faint amusement. She considered leaving him with a cryptic remark but instead laid out an observation she had made. "We just read differently, that's all. Your focus once you get into reading is impressive... but you get easily distracted until then. While you're good at reading, it's very draining for you." It was left unsaid that reading wasn't quite as arduous for her, but the tilting back of his head and the hum of agreement indicated he understood where she was going with her logic.

Her love for reading was in no way less than his from what Blake had seen, but they both had different ways and reasons for reading. Blake could read most anywhere at any time and still remain aware, but her pace was more casual and relaxed.

"Fine, you win today. But next time, I'll ply your secret technique from you. Just you wait. And then I'll be able to read _and_ rest at the same time." The seriousness the mage said it with was almost enough to fool Blake for a moment. The dramatic way he phrased it however gave his joke away. She shook her head with a rueful smile and quelled her almost-laugh.

Their conversation was interrupted when once more a professor's voice called out. This time however it was the headmaster of Torch standing before them, a man known only by his last name, Denslow. He was an average-looking, older man who retained a full head of hair, though tinted white with age, and wearing a full suit and tie in ordinary colors. Everything about him was the picture of normality, but his presence, the enunciation of his words and the intensity of his eyes spoke of a commanding yet subtle authority.

Beside him stood the headmaster of Beacon, who was far more at ease than Denslow and seemed content to observe the students as his fellow headmaster gave his speech.

"Students of Torch and applicants of Beacon, congratulations on making it this far. You will notice some of your number are missing, and I must unfortunately say this is because they could not quite live up to the standards that Torch and Beacon have set to qualify for Beacon's initiation exam. There remains one more trial for you who remain, but take heart: Each of you has shown some amount of aptitude in several crucial areas. The first, combat, is commonly expected of a huntsman, and few of you remaining fell short in this regards. But it is hardly the only thing expected of a huntsman. Many of you exemplified various personal skills that you used effectively in the second trial. Be it speed, stealth or smarts, you kept abreast or even ahead of expectation. The third trial, one which I must apologize for not informing you all of, was to identify if you would be able to effectively work in a team or at least learn how to."

Blake's eyes widened at the headmasters words of socializing, and both the black-themed ninja and the green mage looked at each other with the apprehension of two individuals who were suddenly made aware that they had dodged a bullet without even knowing it.

"As huntsman, your social skills are more important than you might realize. The ability to work and converse with others regardless of the differences between you will be a boon to your cause. Apart, we fall alone. Together, we stand strong. Remember this well."

Denslow stopped speaking, turning his eyes over the crowd of students one at a time. When his glance went over her own, she could tell he was looking straight into her eyes before shifting to her partner. Despite standing all the way at the bottom of the room, the intensity of his gaze was enough to overwhelm Blake's thoughts for just a moment.

Finally, he spoke again. "Your last trial will be to proceed with your chosen partner in a mock scenario. You are to advance together through pre-generated forest terrain, find your objective and acquire it, then decide upon the best way to return it to safety and both of you retreat efficiently. We expect you to treat this like a real mission, one where you have limited ammunition and are dealing with an unknown number of enemies. Do not tarry in your objectives or withdrawal, and keep an eye out on your partner. That is all, good luck."

Once Denslow had stepped away from the platform he was speaking from, every pair of students in the room moved together and started to plan for their upcoming trial. Blake left one last glance on the two headmasters, who were smiling, apparently satisfied with everyone's behavior.

"Alright, before anything else I think we should identify our personal strengths." Gage started to say to her. She gave him her attention, finding that he was leaning forward with his hands resting on his knees. "Some of it will be pretty obvious, but going over it can be crucial to helping us come up with ideas to better coordinate our abilities, as well as calling out for assistance from one another. For example, Blake..."

He gave a glance over her shoulder towards her weapon, Gambol Shroud. "Your weapon is very unique. What functions does it have?"

Blake withdrew the sheathe of her weapon from over her shoulder and rested it on her legs. "Gambol Shroud. It's a variant ballistic chain scythe." She said all this matter-of-factly, watching his expression while inwardly looking forward to seeing how he would react to her weapons shortened description.

It took a few moments of him staring at her with a flat expression as he processed it, but the waiting was worth it. Gage licked his lips as he looked down at the weapon, pursing his lips before looking back up at her with an expression that conveyed his thoughts. 'Are you kidding me?' Blake did her level best to not let her inner amusement show on her face.

"Okay. What you just said? Not one word of it said anything about the fact that your weapon is very obviously a sword and its sheathe also happens to be a big cleaver, nor that your sword can transform into a gun. Also, might I just add that your weapon is neither a scythe, nor does it have a chain?" Gage continued to stare at her incredulously for a few moments, but thankfully he cracked before she did and he sighed. "Okay, that's not the important part. I'm guessing you refer to it that way since it's actually the simplest way to call it?"

Nodding, Blake properly explained her weapons functions. Everything, from its main usage as dual swords, the firearm configuration on the katana that also doubled as the weapons kusarigama form, how _that_ even works, and other creative ways she can make use of the ribbon on the weapon. By the time she was done, Gage was looking at her with awe.

"That's an awful big list of ways you can use your weapon. And you built this yourself? Where did you even come up with the design for this!" He held his hands out in gesture to her weapon, causing her to smirk the slightest bit at his theatrics.

"It wasn't easy, but it helps that I kept coming up with things I wanted my weapon to be able to do, which made realizing it step by step realistic." Gambol Shroud was one of the few vestiges of her previous life she kept with her, a physical testament to the skills she had built in that life and would now be using for a new cause. While she at times had mixed feelings on her weapon, given why she had built it to begin with, she knew she would never willingly part with the weapon. It had become more than just a weapon or a tool, but rather a part of herself.

Gage nodded slowly. "Alright, well I'm just glad you haven't cut yourself with it then."

 _Hm. Better not mention my first few times trying out the kusarigama._ Keeping her expression neutral, Blake made to shift the topic before he got suspicious.

"What about your Dust caster? What can you do with it?"

He pondered her question with a hand on his chin. "A lot. Way too much to tell in one sitting, and some of it I rarely bother to use. But I may as well explain how it works." Drawing out his weapon, he laid it on his lap and turned it over so Blake could see the buttons that were flush with the weapons exterior. "Elemental Archive is a multi-action Dust tome. These buttons here are used to cycle my current Dust selection, rotating the internal cylinder to the appropriate type. I have several vials worth of each of the primary elements of Dust in my weapon. Fire, water, air and earth. I also have some slots for more exotic Dust types, though lightning is the one I use most often." He let that sink in for a moment as he pressed the buttons for cycling it, each press providing a satisfying click.

"Once I've cycled to the type of Dust I want, I press one of these buttons to mete out a dose of Dust into the central chamber here." Gage paused for a second, a look of realization on his face. "Oh, yeah. The reason I do that is because my semblance isn't exactly picky. If I tried to use it straight from the vials, I'd need to take extra time to identify the type of Dust using only my aura, and I'd have to use an entire vial of Dust or more at a time. Not exactly efficient. This way, rather than search for the specific Dust I am looking for, I just manually cycle to it and let my aura register which one is ready to be loaded into the central chamber."

Blake tilted her head back as she parsed through all he had said, but one thing stuck out to her. "You didn't exactly explain what you could do with it though... Just that you have access to the primary five elements. In your combat trial though, you selected several types of Dust."

Blinking, Gage noted that she had said it as a fact and not as a question. "Good eye. Yeah, I can select several types of Dust at once and my semblance will foible the work of mixing them together into a usable attack. I can even deliberately pick what it will be. Normally, water and air Dust combined in the right ratio's will create ice Dust. But I actually prefer to combine the two to make what is in effect a pressure hose. Fast, difficult to dodge, and it topples people over."

"Interesting," she intoned noncommittally after a few moments. _That has to be very hard to keep track of everything, and he has to plan most of his attacks in advance or know what everything does. Actually... that sounds more complex than my weapon._ The thought made her smirk in amusement.

"Doesn't that mean your weapon is more complicated than mine though?"

The effect of her question was instantaneous as Gage froze while the gears turned in his head. "... Perhaps." He was doing his best to keep calm, but Blake could tell it would take just one more push to make embarrass the mage.

It was too easy a target to not say something. "And here you said my weapon was complicated," Blake responded with amusement, enjoying the fact that the boy consciously coughed to avoid having to answer her. _Too easy._

Blake gave the mage a few moments before they resumed their talk, identifying their strengths and weaknesses relative to each other. Where Blake was agile and deadly in close combat, Gage was slow but his firepower let him keep enemies at bay. Blake was much better against skilled opponents, either taking them out quickly or drawing out a duel with them, whereas Gage preferred to clear out mobs. Blake was effective at drawing enemies out and scouting, where Gage could attack from afar and act as a safe place for Blake to retreat to. And where Blake was great at withdrawing regardless of the situation, Gage's Dust gauntlet made being grappled by him extremely dangerous. While they didn't exactly share synergy or enhance what the other could do, both of them could fulfill very different roles effectively, which was useful in its own right.

Although they obviously could tear through the next trial easily, doing so wouldn't positively reflect their ability to manage resources or act cautiously. And with how much Dust Gage used, if he didn't warn Blake before attacking he could easily cause a friendly fire accident.

For those reasons they decided to coordinate their actions. Blake would take the lead and scout ahead before returning, and they would take down any threats together. Whenever Gage would perform an attack he was to call out his target, the attack and Blake's proximity so she could withdraw.

Gage grinned with satisfaction and Blake returned his nod with cool confidence. "It's not exactly the easiest tactic for our first time working together, but it lets both of us use our individual strengths and keep moving at a good pace. I like it."

Blake nodded again. "I agree. Getting surrounded can be tough. Sure, I can use my semblance to get away, but that doesn't mean there are any fewer enemies. But with your support, we can coordinate when I withdraw and you attack."

With their plans set, Gage offered his hand and Blake shook it softly. His earnest gaze and tactical mind settling any doubts she had remaining over partnering with him. More than that though, coming up with a plan that both of them were confident in felt good... It reminded Blake of happier days in the White Fang, planning a protest and the hope that it would go well. When it did, the warmth it brought her heart was all worth it. But the cruel reality of how often their activities fell through had made Blake forget the joy of working on a team. _That's another reason to look forward to Beacon..._

"Blake? You there?" Blinking, Blake focused her attention on Gage again. She felt bad for spacing out, not so much embarrassed as she was saddened by the memories.

"Yes. I take it we're ready?" She said, hoping to move the topic along. Gage stared at her for a moment scrutinizingly before responding.

"I won't ask what's troubling you." Blake unintentionally looked away, somewhat unnerved by his directness. Gage didn't fail to notice this but answered her question. "We're ready now though, so hopefully that means we'll be called up soon."

Was that an out he was leaving her with? Blake glanced around briefly for something before it clicked. "It seems they're calling up students who finished planning earliest. Half the class has already gone, and most of the remainder are still discussing their plans."

Gage looked around like Blake had before nodding. "Seems like it." He grinned. "If we get called up soon then that's two for two on our guesses today."

"Lee Enfield, Blake Belladonna! You're up!" Right on cue a certain semblance-enhanced shout called both of them down. With a quick glance and shared nods they headed down to the center of the amphitheater. Instead of a set of mazes or raised platforms occupying it now there was a simulation of a forest, with a variety of trees and shrubbery. It was interesting to see them using so much Dust to power a literal simulation, but given the academies location in downtown Vale, it was probably cheaper than shipping a bunch of trainees outside the walls.

"Good luck~" Nora Valkyrie sing-songed at them from afar while waving enthusiastically. Ren was with her again, he simply gave a nod of acknowledgment. Another boy was sitting with them now, and he was staring at the partnered ninja and mage. He had messy blonde hair and wore a black-and-orange hoodie underneath his patchwork metal armor.

Blake gave them a simple nod and Gage gave a weak salute to the trio.

Soon enough they stood at the starting line. The fake forest before them was only a straight shot forward and felt standing in it felt... wrong. The lighting was artificial. There was no breeze, no scent of the earth or forest, the sounds of nature were entirely absent. It only looked like a forest, but nothing about it felt that way. Blake traced a hand over the artificial bark of one tree, confirming that even the texture didn't feel like the real thing. It made her uncomfortable.

Gage was more enthralled with the fake vegetation than she was, going so far as to pull the leaf off a tree and crush it in his palm into very finely ground Dust which he was carefully analyzing. It took a few moments of concentrated staring from Blake before he turned to her, laughing nervously and wiping the hint of Dust from his hand.

"All ready?" He asked as though he hadn't been the one distracted.

"Of course," Blake looked forward and drew her weapons. When the signal was given she leapt upwards into the branches of a tree and proceeded forward by jumping from tree limb to tree limb.

* * *

"She certainly is agile," Gage remarked to himself as he set into a jogging pace forward, glancing upwards to the trees to make sure he didn't miss his partners return whenever she found some enemies.

Gage moved around dense foliage rather than through it, jumped over fallen trees and roots sticking up as needed. Being as swift Blake wasn't his job, it was to be ready for her to come back with coordinates so they could swiftly dispatch enemies rather than be the ones snuck up on.

Fighting grimm was often a defensive venture. Their ability to detect the presence of people was much greater than the inverse, so in a way having a teammate who was capable at reconnaissance was both rare and invaluable. Rare, because it was so risky to go alone and because you had to be at a point of competency before you were really rewarded for it. Invaluable because grimm caught unawares were much easier to dispatch.

He was expecting to encounter robots modeled after the grimm. A bit more costly than Atlesian knights, but better suited to being opponents for the students in this environment. They weren't nearly so frightening as the real deal however, lacking the unnerving presence of the soulless monsters.

Gage caught a flicker of movement above him and stopped. A moment later, Blake landed before him and stood up. She gestured over her shoulder to a direction. "Mechanized beowolves, four of them. Think you can take out two?"

 _A simple enough task._ Gage nodded.

They moved quietly, Blake in the lead and Gage following while quietly cycling to lightning Dust. Loud, certainly, but also very immediate. What better way to start an assault than by invoking literal shock and awe?

Peeking out from behind a tree, he spotted their quarries; four mechanical beowolves as she had said. They glanced to each other and Gage decided to take the lead with attacking first, letting Blake leap in second.

 _Let's see... three of them lined up. Convenient! Better to finish them off with a directed bolt rather than diffusing the power between all four with a chain._ That thought in mind, Gage meted out three doses of lightning Dust and on a whim admixtured in a dose of fire Dust to enhance the intensity of his attack. One last final click and the Dust was mixed into the central chamber of his Dust caster. His aura flared as he activated his semblance, greedily devouring every speck of Dust in the central chamber and being molded into the attack he envisioned.

 _Preparations complete!_ Gage enthusiastically shouted internally, almost literally feeling the voltage running through his body. The feeling was, quite literally, electric and it was hard not to feel the rush of energy in his veins.

Whenever he made to hold onto an attack, the Dust would always affect him in a raw, emotional way. It would disperse once the Dust was spent, but it was an interesting side-effect.

Dramatically stepping out from behind cover as lightning ran down his right arm from where he directed and contained the unspent spell he aimed the limb downrange at the 'grimm' that had become aware of his presence.

"Think fast!" He shouted, but of course there was no time for that. With a thunderous boom the three 'grimm' were all struck with a bolt of electricity that fried their internals and was nearly intense enough to melt the point of contact on each bot. That left only one more robot, but it was swiftly decapitated by Blake when she intercepted its headlong dash towards him.

"Way too loud." She gritted out in complaint as they regrouped and moved ahead, neither wanting to wait to see if they would draw attention. "Warn me next time you'll be doing something that loud."

"Oh, sorry. But uh, loud attacks are some of my most powerful." He glanced away with a sheepish expression on his face, earning him another complaint from Blake before she leapt back into the trees without another word. Thinking better of trying to apologize to her in the middle of a mission, he resumed his forward progress while cycling to water Dust.

A few minutes of mostly silence and marching later was broken by a cry of surprise from Blake overhead. "Nevermore!" she shouted, and at the same time a pair of mechanical bird the size of dogs swooped down towards Gage.

With Blake already occupied fighting off her own enemies and the birds swiftly approaching, Gage had little time to do more than raise his arms to protect his head and eyes. Predictably, both birds had went for his head. His armored arm easily resisted the blow from the silent mechanical birds, and the other he warded off with his book in his other hand.

Now closer to them, he could see that the Nevermore robots were largely made from plastics rather than metals, likely so they could actually fly. Perhaps they were less durable for it too, but Gage got no chance to find out.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop that!" Crying out complaints, he took off in what he thought was Blake's direction in hopes that she could dispense the robot birds, both of them maintaining a constant assault on his back with beak and claws. The rain of light hits hurt but were largely superficial since Gage's vitals were protected and getting at his head and neck was difficult while he was moving. "Blake, could you get these things off me?"

Fortunately, his call for aid was quickly answered when he heard Blake land in front of him. "Duck!" she called, and Gage obliged and fell to the ground, shielding his head. The sound of one of the robots being sliced apart behind him was audible though her swing at the second nevermore evidently went wide. Gage lifted an arm up in time to see Blake transform her katana and deliver two pistol shots to the bird that had been trying to flee, dropping it.

"Riiight, so I guess there are nevermore in the tree branches too." Gage said as he stood up and Dusted himself off. "Thank you for the assist though. What happened?"

"They caught me off guard." Blake groaned and looked around. "I don't think the trees are quite as safe as we expected, but if we stay vigilant we can continue as we were. Just... have an attack ready next time." Her expression didn't shift, but the momentary gaze she directed him was enough to make him realize his mistake.

"Right... I guess I got complacent." He rubbed his cheek with the knuckles of his left hand, Dust-caster still in his grip. He had even swapped to water Dust so he could knock any surprise enemies away with a quick splash. Sigh! "We should get moving. Lead the way." Blake nodded and was all-business once more.

* * *

They encountered another group of beowolves and two lone nevermore after that, but dispatching them was easier with the preparation they had. Gage had even gone so far as to use some wind Dust to create a vacuum to pull one of the diving nevermore in and crush its throat in his metal grip. While not exactly an achievement in itself on such a fragile target, it still felt awesome to do. Couldn't just let Blake be the only one to slay nevermore today!

Having already spent the better part of ten minutes walking and fighting, it came as little surprise when Blake reported finding their objective. The amphitheater could only be so large, but their gradual pace had lengthened the journey. A single, tall pillar stood in a clearing with a chess piece- a pawn specifically- resting atop it.

"Looks like that's the thing they wanted us to retrieve and bring back to where we started. I imagine once we grab it we'll come under attack. You should grab it and retreat as quick as you can, I'll cover you and when you deposit the item you can come back for me. How's that sound?"

Looking up at the item on the pillar, she turned her head to the side in thought a moment. "That's decent, but I have a better idea, one that doesn't involve you possibly flunking out for failing to account for how bad you are in a brawl." Blake looked at Gage pointedly, getting across just how bad an idea it was for him to do so. "Instead, you should grab it and use whatever means you have to retreat quickly... I'm much faster and more evasive than you besides, so I can cover your retreat easily without getting caught."

Rubbing his left cheek with his knuckles, Gage nodded, somewhat abashed that his strategy was apparently not the best choice possible. "Alright... I'll rely on you to cover my back. I'll use some of my wind Dust to help me retreat then." Blake gave a soft smile, pleased that he agreed with her plan without complaint.

"Alright then. It's a bit harder for me to accurately make a jump like that than you, so would you grab the item and pass it to me?" Blake agreed, easily making the leap to the top of the pillar and grabbing the item. When she silently hopped down and passed it to him, there were already sounds of a few mechanical creatures coming out to attack them but both of them had already taken off.

Gage looked back over his shoulder once to see Blake easily evading and distracting the 'grimm' behind him, taking out a few and dodging their swipes by the slightest of margins or by leaving behind a duplicate of herself. It was impressive seeing her fluidly turn a narrow dodge into a counter-attack. The image of her being struck was unnerving to witness, but each time proved to be no more than an image of herself. Her semblance occurred so quickly each time that he couldn't quite determine how it was that her semblance covered for her movements, but it seemed that whenever she created a duplicate it left her out of sight for just long enough.

While she wasn't meting out any impressive damage, the fact that she could still manage to get in a few swipes while evading everything spoke highly of her talent.

 _Not the time to be impressed by her skill, wannabe wizard._ Shaking his head, Gage cycled to his air Dust. _Two doses. Enchanting effect, tail wind. Manifest._ Letting his semblance do its work again, Gage almost misstepped as a billow of wind hit him from behind, increasing his running speed noticeably. The influence of the wind Dust pushing him forward gave him a sense of levity and freedom, making him all the more eager to move forward.

The return trip to where they began took a scant two minutes, though it was exhaustive running and Gage had to perform two aura-enhanced leaps to get over groups of beowolves to reach their destination. Landing was a lot easier with the control afforded from the Dust enchantment, and regardless of Gage's progress Blake was always following right behind, leaving him to focus on his own forward momentum.

Spotting a short pillar at the place they'd begun, Gage ran up to it and put the chess piece in his grip atop the pillar.

"Time!" shouted out the squeaky voice of Professor Yertle.

Winded, Gage only barely identified who it was. Blake stepped up to Gage, far less exhausted but when he glanced up he found her to be wearing a rare winning smile.

Yertle waved the pair of students to walk with him as other professors and staff come to clean up and prepare the trial for the next team. "Think we did alright?" Gage whispered at Blake uncertainly. He avoided saying it, but he honestly felt like he had dragged Blake's performance down. If somehow they didn't make the cut, it would be his fault.

Blake blinked and stared at him for a moment. "I think we'll be alright." She said in her regular monotone, though Gage could detect the sarcasm behind the statement. Though vaguely annoyed, he was far more relieved to hear her opinion.

All the while, good Professor Yertle was scribbling notes down regarding their performance as they walked away from the staging area. When he finished, he stopped and practically hopped in order to turn around. "Very well done!" he says in an unfortunately squeaky voice. "Neither of you will be getting any records for fastest run, useless a record as that would be. Your efficiency score was outstanding. Excellent teamwork and planning, acceptable resource management, and you avoided unnecessary fights and knew when was the appropriate time to move quietly and when to make haste. I don't mean to get your hopes up now, but well..." The short professor paused, his grin growing before he gives them two comically big thumbs up. "I'm sure you're shoe-ins for Beacon. I look forward to hearing about your future successes, Mr. Enfield, Ms. Belladonna. Have yourselves a wonderful day, you've earned it." He faced both students and gave each a single nod of confidence before returning to his work, leaving them to their own devices.

Gage stood stiffly for a few moments as the professor's words gradually sunk in. When it finally hit him that they had effectively aced the final trial of the physical exam and were likely shoe-ins to be invited to Beacon's initiation exams, he let out a victorious whoop, pumping his right fist. "Up yours, Winchester!" He shouted to the audience, several students laughing, though with none of the mean-spirited intent from earlier. Getting audience approval for once in a rare while felt nice.

Still pumped, he threw his Elemental Archive into the air and went to catch it on the way down, being forced to take several steps forward just to nearly fumble with the weapon, prompting some more amused laughter from his new audience. "Totally intentional!"

Behind him, Blake chuckled at his behavior. Gage looked back with, embarrassed over his behavior. It was far easier to behave like a clown with people who didn't know you. But the winning smile she wore easily settled his nerves and brought his grin back bigger than before.

After a few quips back and forth they were quickly on their way to the exit, Gage having stowed his weapons in the bag he had brought and Blake with the loaned book in hand, reading while she walked. _Still don't know how she manages that so easily._ Neither said another word while they walked the length of the amphitheater towards the green exit signs at the back. A faster way to depart than walking all the way to the front entrance.

From the stands above Gage spotted Nora Valkyrie once more waving at them, to which Gage returned the wave, emotions still high from success. Sitting with her still was Lie Ren, calm as the last time he had seen him and Jaune Arc, who was looking at the two of them with a mixture of curiosity and awe.

 _Wait, Jaune Arc? He made it this far? Well, maybe I undersold him a bit too much._ Go figure that even Gage would underestimate someone despite knowing what it feels like to be treated that way.

The blonde-haired boy poked Nora's leg to get her attention, telling her something that Gage couldn't hear. She nodded rapidly before cupping her hands over her mouth and shouting, "Jaune wanted you to know that Cardin already left!"

 _Wait, what? WHAT? Winchester already left? Then... then..._ Internally, Gage screamed and felt himself get smaller, his steps much less confident after having made a fool of himself apparently.

When he held his head in exaggerated misery with both hands, he was met with a brief snort that quickly turned into amused giggling from Blake, trying her hardest to hold back her laughter.

Normally, he would have been incensed at being laughed at. But for some reason, he was not angry. Perhaps because she didn't make a habit of teasing him. Maybe because he was still in a good mood. Possibly because Iris cast a hex on him to make him behave his best. Any one of these- well, one aside- was possible.

 _Yeah, or it could just be that she has an incredibly cute laugh and your heart went pitter patter, dummy._

…

 _ARGH!_

Gage flushed and doubled his original walking pace, Blake's adorab- _completely normal_ giggling following behind him apace despite the new speed he walked at.

* * *

By the time Blake had managed to fully restrain her laughter, they had almost made it to the exit and Gage had settled down again. She had been worried for a moment he might react badly for a moment, but his embarrassment over such a small thing was too silly to not be amused by.

Although it might have been fueled by the positive mood from their success.

With her day effectively complete with, her body decided now was the time to inform her she was tired. Blake had spent nearly eight hours on campus, and there were those who were still waiting for their turn to do the last trial. The time was closing on evening, with the skies color starting to shift.

As short and easy as each portion of the exam had been, it still must have taken an incredible amount of effort to get through all the students in a single day. Whoever was responsible for making the entire exam move along seamlessly must have been quite talented. All this for a single day. By all means, it was more strenuous for the teachers than the students. One reason to reconsider teaching if ever she was struck by the idea at least.

Not for the first time that day, Blake's musing was broken by the sound of footsteps coming her way. When she turned she was surprised to find one Headmaster Ozpin of all people. "Ms. Belladonna. Mr. Enfield." He said in a conversational tone, bringing both students to a halt and facing him as he approached the last ten feet towards them.

He stood before them with what seemed to be his normal calm demeanor, a cane in one hand and coffee mug in the other. He looked absolutely at-ease, his clothes somehow a cross between formal and casual-wear, the varied green and black mixture working well for him.

"Allow me to cut to the chase, as I'm sure you're both quite worn out." He smiled mysteriously at the two. "I wanted to congratulate you on your performances and take a moment to speak with the both of you. Do you mind?"

While Blake was somewhat on guard around Ozpin, given that he was more likely than anyone else to discover her past ties to the White Fang, Gage had no such scruples and started to speak beside her. "Oh, um sure. I mean, I'm free." He sputtered, looking at her apologetically for speaking for both of them.

"It's fine," Blake said hastily. While talking with the headmaster was a risk, ignoring him was even more of one. She would have to answer. "What would you like to know, headmaster Ozpin?"

The man smiled, evidently pleased and tilted his head back. "I noticed that the two of you had struck up an alliance quite early on, but you had not actually come in together. I was curious as to how."

Blake was slightly unnerved that Ozpin had noticed as much. Gage didn't seem fussed about it, but the fact that he seemed unsure where to start lead Blake to answer. "We met outside before the exam, actually. But we had a disagreement. Gage apologized later and as repayment I asked him to team up with me."

It wasn't the entire story, but it still answered Ozpin's question, and appeared to satisfy him as he narrowed his eyes slightly, nodding with interest. "I see. It isn't easy to get a huntsman trainee to apologize so quickly. Good work." He specifically looked at Blake as he said this.

"So, where did you both learn how to fight? Both of you have rather limited information in your dossiers regarding this, for your own individual reasons." He turned his gaze from her to Gage with curiosity.

Blake had to be careful how she answered this question, and so she opted to let Gage answer first so she could have a moment to think. Glancing his way, she was relieved to see he seemed to know where to start.

Gage shut his eyes before opening them again and speaking with a slow, inflected tone. "To be honest, I have almost no fighting style to speak of. To say that I learned how to fight would be... inaccurate. I learned how to demolish, using either my semblance or aura."

Blake was taken by surprise at how honest his answer was. It was in keeping with his personality, but it was still just so... unusual to see somebody disparage themselves when introduced to the person they had to convince of their finer points.

"Hm, I see. That's very interesting, Mr. Enfield. We'll have to see if we can't change that, hm?" Gage practically flinched at that, but he didn't seem hurt, so much as he was shocked. Far more than she had been. "And how about you, Ms. Belladonna?"

She paused. _Oh. Right._

"Um... Outside the kingdoms, headmaster. It's either you learn to fight or you increase your chances of dying." These things were true, though in actuality Blake had spent much more time in the kingdoms. Her training was as rough and tumble as any frontier persons would be however, lending credence to her answer.

"It was a very difficult life, I'm sure." Ozpin said this simply, but the scrutiny in his gaze as he watched her made Blake uneasy.

"Now, these next two questions are somewhat specific to you, Mr. Enfield. For starters, Dust. How dependent upon Dust are you? How much do you require? Will you need any sort of scholarship to stay properly armed?" Ozpin sipped his drink after asking as much. Blake wasn't quite sure what he was looking for from Gage, but if she had to guess he was trying to verify where he was in terms of needing special assistance from the school, or ensuring running out of dust doesn't end with him dying in the field.

"Hm, well. I'd have to say almost completely dependent upon it, at least right now. I've developed my semblance quite a lot. That said, I actually don't use a whole lot of dust. My semblance was already quite efficient to start with and given all my training with it I've only gotten more so. I don't have a way to measure where I am with that though. For the most part I work part-time in order to pay for my, ahem, habit." He said the last word jokingly, to which Ozpin raised a brow and took another sip from his mug, as if in understanding.

"I see. Particulars can be discussed later, simply knowing this much now helps however. Now, this is more a point of personal curiosity for me, but you did inherit the Enfield semblance, correct? Casting, you call it?" Ozpin stared at him with great interest, enough so to give Blake's overactive imagination the silly idea of him disappearing Gage to some secret laboratory for study.

"That is correct. I'm uncertain how my semblance differs from past Enfield relatives as it skipped the last generation and the two generations before that. It's kind of a mystery to me how I inherited the semblance, I'm not, hm." Gage paused and licked his lips, considering what he wanted to say. "Overly proud of my family name. Much as I admire my ancestors."

"I see. I'd be interested in talking about that more in the future, then. I once knew your grandfather personally when I was a young man like yourself." Ozpin smiled softly, glancing upwards and reminiscing for a moment. Gage looked surprised by the news, but did not respond.

"Sorry to have excluded you there, Ms. Belladonna. This question is once more for the both of you."

 _Geh._ Blake had actually been enjoying not being noticed by the perceptive headmaster for a little while there, but alas that was no more. "Yes?" She asked simply, hoping to hide her wariness.

"I wanted to ask both of you about your written essays. About why you want to become huntsman. Would you care telling me again?" Ozpin's gaze went back to Blake, his expression totally neutral.

Blake let out a sigh and mulled over her answer for a moment, thinking back to what she had written on her paper and going for a similar answer, though more brief. "I want to fight for a better world, for everyone to live in. Together."

"Hmmm. I see." Ozpin lifted his hand with the can, pushing his glasses up with his thumb as he narrowed his eyes. "Do you believe such a goal is possible?" He said this in such a dark tone that it took Blake by surprise momentarily, causing her to respond feebly.

"I... I don't know." It took her a moment, but when she saw Gage staring at her with interest she continued with more conviction, "But we have to try otherwise it will never happen."

Ozpin's expression softened considerably and he sipped his drink again, turning away and taking a few steps aside. "Indeed. Now, Mr. Enfield?"

Gage seemed prepared for that, turning his glance back to the headmaster. "I got tired of sitting back, content to live my life safe and secure in Vale, sir. I want to dedicate my life to something that feels meaningful, and that I feel I am... actually capable of doing moderately well at." Blake noted that he had said the last part with a bit less passion to his voice.

"I see," Ozpin said for what may very well have been the hundredth time that day. "Although I must say that you underestimate yourself, Mr. Enfield." Gage looked away at that, his expression stony for the moment she could see his expression before his head was turned away from her.

Sipping his drink once more, Ozpin closed his eyes momentarily before nodding to himself. "I have just one more question then. You managed to answer what I was going to ask you already Ms. Belladonna, so I suppose this question is just for Mr. Enfield." Ozpin paused and faced the young man. "Why exactly did you answer your second essay in that manner? The question was where you wanted to find yourself in the future. Three words is not an acceptable answer to such a question, let alone writing that you wanted to become a-"

"Aaaahahahah!" Gage suddenly jumped forward, interrupting Ozpin with his laughter. Blake almost jumped back in surprise, eyes wide, and Ozpin just stopped in his speaking to stare at the boy with what might pass as surprise for the near-expressionless man.

 _What on Remnant is he doing?_

"H-Headmaster Ozpin, that was just a joke, you know? A joke... I figured that would be obvious. And I mean, my first essay, well, it was really long and in-depth. T-The dichotomy between the length of my first essay and my second essay can be seen as an expression of how much I know about my past but how little I know about my future. Y-You know?" Gage rambled on, looking at Ozpin desperately.

Ozpin stood silently for a few moments before smiling mischievously and nodding. "I see. A joke. You got one over on me, Mr. Enfield. You may want to be careful and consider when it is you'll make such jokes, Mr. Enfield. They might be more revealing of yourself than you intend them to be.

Gage stepped back, eyes wild from panicked embarrassment and holding his hands out and level to his stomach as though trying to placate something quite scary. The only sound to come out of his mouth a few garbled grunts.

 _Seriously, what did he write down to cause him to react so strongly?_

"I'll leave the two of you be now. Thank you for your time, have a nice day and I look forward to seeing you at the Initiation Exam." Tipping his head to the two students, Ozpin turned and walked away, leaving them to the bizarre silence that Gage had created.

Blake turned to look at him intently, frowning slightly. "Care to explain what that was about?"

He regained his awareness at that, looking away ruefully and rubbing his cheek with the knuckles of one hand. "Not really," he choked out.

Blake continued to stare at him, her curiosity naturally getting the better of her, she walked around to face him, prompting him to laugh awkwardly and try to look away again. "Look at me, Gage."

Groaning, Gage turned to face her, still trying his hardest to smile but failing. "F-Fine. It's just, uh, I wrote down a childhood dream for the second essay. Kind of half as a joke, and half as.. uh, well, reasons." He started laughing awkwardly again.

Blake's eyebrow twitched and she palmed her forehead. "As curious as I am now, I will... refrain from asking, Gage." She drew in a breath, exhaling only when she had calmed down slightly and Gage's guilt and embarrassment had gone from "being found reading Ninja's of Love" levels to "being found sneaking tuna before dinner."

Not that Blake knew those levels of embarrassment personally.

"Let's just go." Blake said tiredly. Gage, thankfully, nodded obediently and they went outside.

* * *

For two blocks, they walked away from Torch. Whether they were headed the same direction or not, Blake did not know, but Gage stuck with her still, gradually calming down from his earlier outburst. They enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere that came with it being 7 PM. Most everyone who had left work were already returned home, and those who intended to go out late at night were not yet there, leaving this time of day an empty twilight hour, on the border between the day and night.

Blake and Gage remained quiet as they walked, finally stopping at a crosswalk. "Blake," Gage stopped her, prompting her to face him. "Thank you for everything today." He offered her his right hand while wearing a worn-out, but relieved grin.

For a moment, Blake could only stare. It was a new expression on him, similar to how he had looked when he apologized, but... with an air of finality to it. Blake felt concern build up in her chest, but tried her best to put it aside. She had only known him for a day. Most of his expressions were still new to her. This one just more-so.

Reaching out and grasping his hand, Blake didn't know how to respond to his gratitude, the cloying feeling in her chest making it feel impossible to speak, even if she knew what she wanted to say. All she could hear over the late-day wind was the sound of her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.

They weakly held hands for a few moments, with little firmness and no shaking either, all the while staring one another in the eye before their hands slipped apart easily and they spoke at the same time.

""Goodbye.""

Neither thought anything of it, and with one last faint smile Gage turned away from her and started down a street by himself. Blake idly noted and was glad to find it wasn't the same route to her temporary apartment. Despite that, she made no effort to begin walking, her amber eyes watching his retreating form as he gradually became smaller and smaller.

From this distance now, she would be unable to identify it as him, and could not identify his body language any longer. As of now, he was little more than a passing memory.

Once he was out of sight, Blake looked to the reddening sky. Her thoughts turned to other memories, of the things she had once cherished but ultimately let go of. Her parents and her home in Menagerie. It had been six long years since she had seen them. Those six years she spent away from home and more seriously involved with the White Fang amounted to a greater sum of memories than what memories she could remember with her parents.

Even though she loved her parents, her earliest memory she could recall was when she was six. Meaning, she had only five years worth of memories of them.

Sniff...

Blake drew in a deep breath to smother the need to cry that was bubbling up from within her. "Mother, father... Would you be proud of me now that I've done the right thing...?"

More than anything, Blake wanted to see and speak with her parents, but was too afraid now. She did not want to return home with nothing to show for herself, even though in all likelihood they would welcome her home, she was still afraid.

Hopefully, at Beacon, she would no longer have to run away.

* * *

 _Would Uncle Albus be proud?_

 _Maybe. He did push me to becoming a huntsman._

Gage's steps were heavier and slower than usual. Most often, when he was walking, he did so in a manner that his little sister, Lili, would dub "A man on a mission." The phrase had amused him, making him feel bigger than he really was. In all reality, he just walked fast because it would get him to his destination quicker and, unlike a car, there was little risk of injury for speeding.

This slow walk on the other hand was reserved for particularly long days where he would socialize a lot. Those were increasingly infrequent as the years passed by, and most often only happened after school days.

The thought that he simply did not fit in, as much as it was a constant one, always weighed heavily on his shoulders. Having to spend the day in the constant company of Blake was... pleasant. Almost overwhelmingly so. Yet now he felt the repercussions of that brief and momentary pleasure. The fear and concern that, should they meet again, there was every chance that he would disappoint her somehow and make her dislike him.

It was far easier to do so himself and on his own terms. It was what he had tried for when he first met Blake. At least then, he could affirm to himself, by virtue of willingly obliging the fallacy of a self-fulfilling prophecy, that there was no chance of him connecting with someone. Far easier to prevent the bridge from being built than to later burn it down himself. Less wasteful, less exhausting, even gives those who dislike him something to rally against. All around beneficial.

If it was inevitable that he should disappoint others, then he may as well make the best of it.

 _Would Uncle Albus be proud?_

 _Maybe. He did want me to help others._

He still wanted to become a huntsman. But in all honesty, sometimes it felt like his only real reason was trying to come up with some intrinsic and numerical value for what had thus far felt like a completely empty existence that was only interrupted by moments of distraction, be it from books, practice or the ever-rare conversation.

At least this way, he could die for a good cause rather than exist indefinitely for none.

Gage has seen the family tree. Every Enfield who ever became a huntsman died in a Grimm attack at some point. Honestly, the only reason the thought bothered him was because he was still sad about his uncle's demise. The fact that he would follow that trend was merely that; a fact.

The Enfield bloodline would continue, as it had for millenia, passed down by those members of the family who had decided not to become huntsman.

Like his father, Douglas, and his brother and sister Rod and Lily.

 _Would Uncle Albus be proud of me?_

 _Maybe._

…

 _Unlikely._

…

 _No._

…

But... he still wanted to make his uncle proud. Gage stopped in his slow stride, reaching his hand skyward and grasping at the Sun, blotting it out from view as it steadily climbed down past the horizon.

* * *

Headmaster Ozpin looked over the dossier of Gage Enfield one last time, sipping from his newly-refilled mug while deep in thought. The roster of students who had passed the Beacon Qualification Exams this year showed great potential, and Lee Enfield was certainly not the least of them.

But a good many of them were troubled by their past in some way or other. What made Mr. Enfield unique then was that he did not seem to regard himself as being someone with an especially troubled past. To think himself so ordinary despite how unusual he was seemed preposterous. Ozpin had seen it for himself however.

Glynda was always under the impression that Ozpin was not working hard whenever he had failed to fill out or file a form on time or properly. This wasn't simple absent-mindedness however, but rather the result of just how much time and concern he invested into thinking about his students.

They, the future protectors of Remnant, often needed nurtured to an obscene degree in order to achieve their greatest potential without finding their lives expunged prematurely.

Lee Enfield was thus only one of many students whom he was concerned about, and even though it was still weeks away from the Initiation Exams and he was seated in the bleachers at Torch listening to their hard-working staff clean up for the day while pulling over-time, Ozpin was already formulating and considering teams.

"Hm. I think this team should have good results." He mildly said to himself while writing down the initials for yet another team he had theorized putting together.

With that done, Ozpin decided it was time to call it a day. Even an immortal wizard needed their once-nightly bout of sleep.

Smiling for the briefest moment, Ozpin lifted up the dossier of Mr. Enfield and pulled out his essay, reading the second entry again with mild amusement. On it were three words in large lettering;

"Become a Wizard."

* * *

A/N: And that is it! The last chapter of volume zero! With this, I would like to ask for reviews from those who are inclined to give them. I have a bad habit of not writing up reviews often myself, a habit I tried to fix by writing a ton earlier this week, and now I feel like I won't be a total hypocrite if I ask that you, the reader...

Please leave a review at your own leisure! If you want to get some (spoiler-free) questions answered, or to tell me that I write way too much while making very little progress, please, feel free!

On another note, yes, I did very lightly edit the last few chapters and bother to give the professors names and properly explain why the exams are so damnably easy. Since that explanation is in a previous chapter, let me just express it here.

The Beacon Qualification Exams as I have referred to them are not strictly a test that you must pass by a certain margin to succeed. They are instead evaluations of students by both the staff of Beacon and Torch who are in observance. They don't test students on strict criteria either, and even such things as potential and sociability are considered when looking for applicants to Beacon. On two given years, if 80 students show up for one and 100 for another, only 20 of them will actually move along. For those who pass but don't get an invitation to Beacon, well, they can often find work elsewhere and if they haven't passed the age limit for attending Beacon they can always try again the next year.

I also hope some of you got what the chapter name was a reference to. It might be the only chapter name I'm really proud of thus far.

So, writing this chapter felt an awful lot like my essays tend to go. At first I just spin my tires uselessly in the mud, before finally deciding to step out, consider my plan of action, then push the car out just enough that I can drive it away. Once I get past that slog, the rest comes along wonderfully as I've been thinking about writing it for so long. Literally, the last 4,000 words of this chapter came out within a five hour period of writing. That's pretty normal for me since a lot of my writing process involves looking at a page, writing half a paragraph and thinking about what all I want to do and will do now, then looking away for twenty minutes. Yeah.

Despite being my longest chapter now, this could have been even longer, seeing as I altogether removed one 1,500 word scene and redid another 2,000 word scene with a shorter one that had a different tone to it. Though in all honesty both of these things needed to occur, and I am much more satisfied with how this chapter came out.

For some reason, even though this chapter in particular took much longer to write and is marginally longer than any of my others, I don't know what else to say in these authors notes. Huh. Well, I suppose it happens to the best and the worst of us. (Guess which I belong in for five Schneenopoly Lien.)

-YearsLate


	5. V 01 Chapter 05

Written, 08/03/2018

Edited, 08/13/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from.

This chapter thoroughly beta'd by my good friend Myst Eternally.

* * *

Volume 01, Chapter 05.

A Slow Day and a Fast Friend

* * *

 _Today feels like a lazy morning,_ Gage mused whilst staring vacantly at the digital clock by his bedside, informing him it was morning. _Of course, it probably isn't helping much just watching the minutes literally tick down. Don't even get to see each second pass, stupid digital clock._

He remained laying still, the only evidence that he wasn't asleep being his open eyes and the pace of his breathing. His bed was invitingly comfortable, no one was telling him to get up, and he had nothing he needed to do today. And of course, Beacon was still a week off, so he was technically on break. There was no real reason for him to get up, he had decided.

All those things were facts (very comfortable facts), but none of them were the real reason he was still laying in bed. To be perfectly clear, Gage did not want to spend any time with his family. Even if that meant having to skip breakfast.

His room was perfectly quiet, the clinking of silverware on plates downstairs was easily discernible. The Enfield household was unusually quiet this morning, even by their standards, but that was no problem of his. He hadn't spoken with his parents since last week, when he had simply informed them, "I'm going to Beacon." There was no further explanation given. Since then, the only interactions with his parents had been furtive glances of concern and his own disinterest and resignation at the continued status quo. Going down now would only make the silence at the table all the more suffocating.

He was long used to it, but the feeling of dejection still bit at the edges of his mind, willing him to remain in bed longer still. To indulge in the slow, self-destructive behavior of laying still all day. In his better moments, he would always play it off to himself as a day to recuperate his batteries. Unlike most hunters, he was not an endless wellspring of energy. That was just something he would accept and deal with.

In his worse moments he would tell himself, in no complicated terms, that he was weak, lazy and barely above being useless.

Whether his better self or his worse self were right, Gage could not determine. Most likely it was a bit of both and neither. Perhaps they were two separate but very similar behaviors. But did it really matter? It didn't change that he still defaulted to listlessness far too easily.

Douglas and Camelia, his parents, had never said anything that suggested they disapproved of his choice to become a huntsman. But neither had they so much as approved of it, a firm indicator of their stances on the subject.

They just tacitly asked questions every so often. Probing and plying him with various queries to dig out an honest answer when he tried to play evasive. Whenever they had an answer they seemed to deem acceptable, they would just... stop asking for a time.

The past year had been the worst. His time at Torch kept him busy and conversations with his parents were increasingly focused on his progress at the school. Originally, he dared hope that whatever had strained their relationship in the past wouldn't occur again, the year prior to it having slowly healed some of the rift there was between he and his parents. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that time had been nothing more than a reprieve from the status quo they were in now.

Gage couldn't help but begrudge his family for it. If they would not give him their support, though, that was fine. He had already proven he _could_ make it without them or anyone's assistance.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to go so far as hate them either. They were just trying to protect him in their own way. He still had most of the trappings and behavior of a civilian after all, so it must have been difficult to imagine that their son was now far stronger than them. That he was now a capable huntsman-in-training. The life he pursued would be fraught with constant danger, that was a fact. Being a huntsman at its core was about putting one's life at risk to combat the constant Grimm menace. No self-respecting parent would ever happily send their children to what could very well be an early grave.

Neither of his parents understood, though it was no fault of their own. They were simply ordinary people. His father worked in Dust shipping, and his mother as a librarian. If ever they had aspirations and childhood dreams as outlandish as his own they had never talked about it, and seemingly not gone as far to pursue them as he was doing. They seemed perfectly content with their lives, their jobs and their family.

That wasn't what Gage wanted out of life though. He couldn't even imagine himself working the same job as either his parents, despite their shared interests. Falling in love with someone? Eventually marrying them and raising a family together? Those seemed even more unfathomable.

It was a part of why he intended to leave. The sooner he got out of their hair and was walking his own life, the sooner he could stop worrying them.

Although perhaps... this was all just his youth speaking for him. It wasn't unusual for someone his age to be completely clueless about what they wanted to do with their lives, right? To want to be, ahem, cool and unique.

Gage had to admit, he did tick off an awful lot of the boxes for the "bored city kid seeking adventure" archetype too. Maybe a few too many.

There was a key difference though. Regardless of if it had started because of boredom, Gage's desire to become a huntsman was now a very real thing, tempered by experience and effort. His motivation had grown each time he realized that his goal was, in fact, within reach. Something he still found shocking every time he looked up to see the finish line drawing closer.

Originally, it was about interpreting his... admittedly silly childhood dream into something far more realistic. Even if it embarrassed him, the idea of being a wizard still held great appeal. Making the omnipresent enemies of humanity disappear with nary more than a wave of his hand? Definitely the stuff of some dumb fantasy book with ridiculous escalations in power levels. But huntsman? Those were real. They existed. Becoming one was _not_ the stuff of fantasy and legend. And while they could not make the Grimm disappear with a gesture, they still had the ability to strike down the creatures of nightmare with an ease that, frankly, scared civilians who bore witness to such displays. Regardless of being saved by them.

Then, it had become about having a tangible way of measuring his value in the world. How many people he had saved, the number of towns he contributed to rescuing... Taking up the fallen mantle of his hero, Albus Enfield. Gage was under no illusion that he was somehow special, though. Not even Albus was. Everyone dies at some point. Dying was fine, if it meant he could do something useful with his life. Working an ordinary job would not have given him that, and he would have to live with the fact that outside Vale, an endless war of attrition against humanity continued ceaselessly.

Most recently however, training to be a huntsman had become _exciting_ in its own right. Measuring the growth of both his Aura control and even marginal boosts to his Aura capacity, which was never an easy task. Improving his Semblance control further and creating new effects with Casting. Crushing a mechanical birds head by drawing it in with an air vacuum then crushing it with his Aura-laden fist? _Awesome._ Maybe this was the reason why most trainees were so confident in themselves. That was something Gage didn't experience early like most trainees would have. It reminded him that, far as he had come, Gage was still quite far behind and didn't share the same mentality as his peers.

No one could ever say Gage wasn't willing to learn though (or at least they would be mistaken if they said as much), and having given himself something... roughly passing for a pep-talk, he was feeling a bit more productive. Taking a _very_ deep breath through his nose, he slowly rose from his bed, eyeing his desk and the machine there. _It's been a few days since I last checked the CCT. Why not make one last big visit before Beacon?_ He tip-toed his way to his desk, wary of making his family aware that he was awake.

Soon, the iconic, tell-tale drone of an old computer starting up replaced the silence in the room. He sat down at his desk while rubbing the weariness from his eyes. Glancing up to the old screen and keyboard, he waited impatiently for the ancient machine to start up.

At one point in time, commercial machines like this would have been called the future of technology and business. Able to remotely connect with the CCT without a direct landline connection, these machines were meant to be sold to businesses and libraries. They were marketed as "Archives" by one manufacturer because of how much information they had access to. _Too bad the name never stuck,_ he thought sarcastically. Now it was nothing more than a relic.

The abrupt invention of holographic screens and miniaturized, rechargeable Dust batteries in a single-year span had immediately rendered machines like this obsolete. New devices' built off of the technology were far smaller and sleeker. And while not inherently faster, the sudden mass market appeal of a transportable computer meant plenty of financial investors to improve on them.

Hilariously, the transportable devices were marketed as "Scrolls." Gage seriously had to wonder at the relationship between the two devices marketing teams. He refused to believe the names were mere coincidence.

Competition or collaboration? He didn't know which. Learning that tidbit of trivia would have involved reading more marketing books than Gage was willing to do.

 _Honestly though, calling them Scrolls to one-up the Archive? Dick move._

His computer had been given to his father, Douglas, when it was replaced with a newer model at the warehouse his father often was working at managing shipping. Since no one else in the Enfield household wanted the machine, it was free for Gage to take.

Free was an _excellent_ price. Scrolls, despite their mass market appeal, were still prohibitively expensive. Gage owned one, but it was an older model gifted to him by his parents. He was not particularly fond of using it either, only using it for the very occasional call. Routinely he forgot he owned one. _Not that Cardin's shocked face isn't a great background still._ Buying a new one would cost precious lien he could use to buy something more important though. Like Dust. Or Dust. Sometimes books. But mostly Dust. Even if he had more than he realistically needed, he preferred to stockpile. Especially since prices were on the rise. Better to buy before prices rose too high.

Actually, he spent a good deal of time working in a Dust store and rarely used his money on himself. Maybe that's why he didn't have any friends?

 _Gasp, those technophiles. Looking down on me just because I love a relic of the past!_ He quipped at himself mentally, an effort in deferring his thoughts from negativity again. He had done enough for one morning.

Sure, his computer was slow, couldn't run modern Quills- another fun marketing name- and stationary, but it was his.

And it was free.

Besides, he happened to _enjoy_ the tactile response of the old keyboard. The click of the keys was satisfying, reminding him of the responsive _click_ he got when operating his Dust caster. Infinitely more responsive than the vague beeps any old holographic keyboard.

 _Now what was I doing again? Oh, right._ Gage swiveled in his chair to check the screen, only to find his computer still loading. _Ugh. Only fifteen percent? The things I do just to check the CCT._

With a resigned groan he'd uttered many times before, Gage slumped back in his chair. Seeking to busy himself, he listlessly groped for the closest nearby book. _"Theories on Semblance Manifestation,"_ he read, frowning slightly. It had proven an engrossing read even though it was all theory and guesswork ultimately. There were too many unknowns with Aura and Semblances and there was no real way to track a person's Semblance before... y'know, they displayed their Semblance. Excellent food for thought though, especially the section on family Semblances.

There was only one problem with the book though: he had already read it before.

Gage quickly turned to the screen hopefully. He waited. And waited.

...

The bar ticked up a single digit.

...

 _On second thought, rereading this sounds wonderful right now._

* * *

Leaning back as far as he safely could in his chair, Gage stared at the screen and let his thoughts drift as the page loaded before him. Most of the tasks he had turned the computer on for were now done, and he had but to wait on the last page to load.

First he had checked the reviews and authors of a few books that had grabbed his interest. Be they new releases or long-time shelf-warmers, it was preferable to know what he was getting into if he was going to spend his limited lien on a book. Especially a new one. It was a shame he had only so much time and lien to spend on reading... But that only made it all the more important to have a discerning eye for what to buy after all.

Second, he now knew what Roman Torchwick looked like. Or rather, he had confirmed what he looked like. It was hard not to recall someone so flamboyant looking, even if he had only incidentally seen his face on holo-screen news feeds. Knowing a bit more about the infamous Dust thief would, hopefully, not be something he needed to make use of while working the last shift at From Dust 'Til Dawn. He was scheduled for it for the rest of the week before Beacon though. Better to be aware at the very least.

 _Hrm. Should really push the boss man to close shop earlier though. And do something to make the place more secure against burglaries, too. Absurd as it is that Torchwick's still stealing despite how much he's already grabbed up._

And of course he had remembered to send a response message Iris's way. He wasn't _that_ forgetful. With how little he used his Scroll, digital mail was the best means he had to keep in contact with his faunus cousin. Scroll messages back and forth held no appeal for the mage. He didn't want to lose contact with her again though, so whenever he turned his computer on he made sure to check if she had sent a return mail.

Her most recent mail left him absolutely befuddled. In an effort to be as helpful as possible she had sent him a list of things to be absolutely sure he bring with him to Beacon. It was an exhaustive, bizarre, and vaguely insulting list too. Did she really think he would forget to bring so many essentials? And did she really think he'd ever have need of some of the things she pointed out? Did she actually list these things because she was secretly ditzy and this list was more indicative of the kind of things she would remind herself to bring along? _Probably not, but the thought is amusing enough to tease her about._

 _Deodorant, a comb, sunglasses, my wallet of all things, my lien that is obviously in my wallet, a Scroll even though Beacon will give me a new one, a toothbrush, floss, mouthwash, soap, shampoo and conditioner, hand lotion, nail cutters, a tie, (cousin, I literally wear these for my hunter outfit) formal and casual-wear both, belts, a lint roller, a nice change of shoes and "not those raggedy boots," the cologne she got me as a gift because she didn't want me to "smell like loneliness," whatever that meant. The book on romance she bought me for reasons I do not care to contemplate. A box of condoms. Really now? Really?_

Really?

If there was such a thing as the 'big sister' gene, then Iris had definitely inherited it. Despite being a year his younger and his cousin to boot she still tried to watch out for him in a fashion he could only consider sisterly. _So weird._

Thankfully, the page Gage was waiting on decided to finish loading at that moment, prompting Gage to sit back up in his chair. He adjusted his glasses while looking at the screen, an old habit from before his Aura had corrected his eyesight. Narrowing his eyes and mumbling along with every few words he read, Gage took in the information on the page.

Most of it was legal nonsense. Not exactly his strongest field of study, that was his brother's domain. Oliver would have clear-cut this document in no time. For Gage, the phrasing always terse and inscrutable. At the very least it was consistent and could be understood with the aid of a dictionary.

But the details of what he was reading weren't what interested him. His searching had already told him enough details about the law he was reading. What interested Gage was the exact amount of lien one would be fined for breaking it, a number that had never been specified even when brought up elsewhere.

His eyes stopped moving down the page as they settled on a string of numbers; exactly what he had been looking for. It took his brain a moment to mentally process what the number added up to, his eyes opening wide with incredulity and causing him to move quickly away from the screen that he had been leaning close to while reading.

 _Okay, that... is a_ really _large number._ _Certainly explains an awful lot._

Specifically, it explained the dearth of information regarding Beacon's entrance exams. One of his reasons for turning the computer on was to find some information about them, and he had found nothing. Not a single iota of information, spare a few forum posts by huntsman saying not to bother looking or asking. There were no books published to help prepare specifically for the exams, unlike Torch's. His curiosity stoked and with Beacon on the horizon, he decided to try and figure out why that was the case.

What he was reading now was a very wide-reaching, _international_ law that forbade anyone with knowledge of any secondary Huntsman academies exams from intentionally disclosing or spreading information on them, and the astronomical fine one would suffer for invoking it. He had never before heard of the law, so it must have been kept at least something of a secret.

At the very least, the terms of the agreement were just kind enough that a parent or student wouldn't be fined for just talking about it with relatives or friends. It was more a matter of intention. Trying to profit off the information in particular.

Even so, "That is one heck of a deterrent," Gage mumbled dumbly, posture slackening in his chair. He paused for a moment and glanced around. Not that there was anybody there to see him talking to himself.

Not finding any out-of-place observing ninja he turned the machine off and started to get up, rubbing his bleary eyes. The exhaustion of spending too much time staring at a screen without bothering to get a morning shower or breakfast were catching up with him now.

 _It certainly seems to be effective though,_ he mulled, arms crossed as he shuffled to his clothes drawer. _What better way to ensure the threat works than by making it so ridiculously large that no one would even dare even the small risk of being slapped with it? It's just far too much lien to even be worth the risk._

Gage couldn't decide if it was ingenious or insidious.

Jail time in Vale for minor crimes like this was rather small, a maximum of five years really, and even that much was not typically given out. But _evidently_ the limitations on fines were nearly nonexistent.

 _Such an extreme solution. This fine does a far better job of destroying a person's livelihood than a few years of jail time, even. There's no way I'm remotely chancing this._ Not that there was much of anything out there for Gage to find, but he now had good reason to stop his search.

It wasn't as though the fine was never carried out either. One record in particular caught his attention. Apparently the Dust company his grandfather had worked at as a researcher in his younger days had been bought out by the nascent Schnee Dust Company because the company owner had made the poor decision of distributing information about the exams. The man was put so far into debt that he had no other choice but to sell the business.

Riveting stuff really! He had never heard the circumstances about his job. Had he quit or been let go when the change of owners occurred? Well, that was one bit of curiosity Gage was fine with not indulging. Talking with the man was often a drawn-out, exhausting process. Gage suspected, in jest, that the man was a vampire who leeched energy off of others by talking them into a corner.

Obviously that was untrue, but deriving some modicum of amusement from having his soul crushed by the old man's presence was a way of at least partly recouping his time and will to live.

Gage rifled through his dresser as he continued thinking, picking out a change of exercise clothes. _Not much point in dressing otherwise if I'm going to get a light breakfast before doing a late-morning jog._ Seeing as he couldn't plan for the specific challenges he would be facing, Gage figured it would be prudent to keep up his exercise before Beacon. That, at least, was preparation he could apply anywhere.

* * *

The scents and sounds of cooking oil filled the Enfield kitchen despite that it had been two hours since the family breakfast ended. Lili Enfield stood there alone, the thirteen year old girl preparing a simple breakfast of eggs and toast, intended for her older brother Lee.

She was, not unusually for a girl her age, of small build although taller than the other girls in her class (the first priority puberty seemed to have for the young girl). Her green eyes and dark blonde hair were reminiscent of her older brothers, but both many shades brighter. Wearing a green cardigan sweater and long black skirt she was plain, but far from uncute.

Lee hadn't asked her to make a late breakfast, it being far out of his character to ask for things from the family he felt he was burdening. But when she spied him coming down from the second floor in a bedraggled state she had decided to do something nice for him while she still could. Lee would be gone soon after all, and the young girl had absolutely no idea if he would ever return. Her concern that this may very well be the last weeks she ever sees him driving the younger sister to start being extra helpful to her huntsman-in-training brother, in-so-far as she was able to without drawing too much of his attention.

Her eyes shifted from the meal she was readying and pulled a waiting plate closer before depositing the prepared meal onto a waiting plate. Two eggs, one scrambled and the other plain, just like Lee favored. She hummed to herself with an honest smile. It was a smile she only gave when she knew she was alone and enjoying herself. Transferring the plate over to the table nearby, she was pleased to note she could not hear the shower running now.

She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves and readying herself mentally to talk with her brother. Though a meek girl by nature, she was also an Enfield. Perhaps it was genetic to an extent, or maybe it was passed along by family lessons. Whatever the case, she like the rest of her family would be ready for any challenge so long as they had the time to prepare themselves mentally.

Lili wasn't afraid of Lee. He was her brother and always would be, no matter how strong he became. It was just that he could be a little... _difficult._

It was important that she talk with him today though. Her brother would not be happy about the message she bore, but she hoped he would at least restrain his anger and that he could deal with the news.

Lili was still relieved to know her brother was not the type to shoot the messenger though...

When she heard a door open in the hallway she peeked out from the doorway of the dining room, spotting her brother walking down the hall freshly showered. He spotted her despite her attempt to be sneaky, but his expression remained totally neutral as he made to walk back to his room.

 _You can do this, Lili._ Drawing a breath, she stepped out from the door frame, careful to not block his path.

"Lee," She almost shouted, wincing at her own volume. Thankfully he stopped and gave her his attention (mercifully ignoring her volume). She spoke more quietly, "I made breakfast." She gazed upwards into her brothers eyes, unaware of the pleading expression she was giving him.

"Oh," He responded dumbly, almost taking a half-step back before catching himself. "Um, you mean earlier, right? Or... right now?" He peeked past her into the dining room, eyes going to the still-warm meal sitting on the table.

"Right now. You shouldn't jog on an empty stomach." She said, verbally indicating his choice of clothes.

"You didn't have to do that you know." His expression neutral remained neutral.

Giving a weak smile, Lili nodded. "I didn't, but I wanted to," She stepped aside to make room for him to walk into the dining room.. Lili took a seat across from where her brother seated himself, her eyes intent on him as he began eating. She tried her best to hide her apprehension, hands bunching and then flattening her skirt nervously in a repeat pattern underneath the tables frame.

"You remembered how I like my eggs," Lee observed before taking another bite. She almost winced.

"It's not like it's been that long since you last ate breakfast with us." Lili looked down sadly. In fact though, it had been a few weeks.

His fork paused a moment before continuing, taking another bite and watching her carefully before he spoke again. "I dunno about that," he said ambiguously.

 _This... this isn't what I wanted to talk about and it won't get anywhere._ Lili sighed and bit her lip. "Lee... _Gage..._ Can we not talk about this right now?"

Once more he paused, internally chastising himself and lowering his fork. "Fine, alright. Since you asked..." He narrowed his gaze upon her, noting how nervous she was and trying to put the pieces of her behavior together. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

She worried her lower lip again, giving a tiny nod. When he opened his mouth to speak again she interrupted, "Please, after?" She met his eyes again, unknowingly giving him another pleading look and taking the wind from his sails.

Breakfast after that was a quiet affair. Lee gratefully but slowly eating the remainder of eggs and mopping up the remainder with the lightly toasted bread. Lili kept looking down, doing her best to remain calm while holding her skirt tight. Too preoccupied to try to flatten it out when she noticed her behavior.

Finally the moment of truth came when Lee pushed his plate aside, and in a manner that resembled their oldest sibling, placed his elbows on the table and interlaced his hands. "So?"

Lili twitched in her seat. "Grandfather was here," she blurted out, body tensing and glancing at him fleetingly to gauge his reaction. It wasn't looking very good. At first, dull surprise. It wasn't exactly unusual he would be here. Then a frown as the context of when he was showing up. Last came outright annoyance, likely as he realized that he hadn't known nor been called down.

"Why are you telling me this?" he said in a low tone. The fact that it was only one question, rather than a series of them, let her know that he understood the significance.

"He wanted to speak with you." Lee let out a huff at that. "But you weren't up, and, and he said he would wait for you to get up yourself, but..." She trailed off, unwilling to meet his eyes.

"I see." Lili heard him say in an icy tone. "Grandfather must have been quite livid."

"A-A little."

She chanced looking up, seeing him nodding to himself and leaning back in his chair with his arms folded now. He wasn't looking at her when he spoke, the metaphorical ice in his voice cracking as though lava were coursing through it. "That's a shame," He drawled out in a low tone. "Grandfather has the unfortunate impression that a conversation consists of himself talking, and his target obeying. Such an irrational interpretation of what is normally a two-way dialogue is not something... I care to engage in. I have no interest in entertaining whatever problem he has with me this time." He finished with a dismissive hand gesture.

 _There it is..._ Lili let out a breath through her nose, hands relaxing on her lap. Less relieved, and more resigned to his behavior. She didn't know what to say to keep the conversation going now, but she was glad to have at least informed him. When she went to speak, the first thing that came from her lips was a small murmur of apology.

Lee frowned at that and sat back up. "You don't have to apologize, it's not your fault. If anything, I'm sorry for reacting like that. That was inappropriate of me." He sighed and ran a hand through his still-damp hair before getting up to take his plate to clean it. "And thank you for breakfast, too." He said in a quieter tone, resting a hand on Lili's shoulder a moment, causing her to jump just the slightest bit before looking up at him with relief.

She was surprised. Her brother was often good at apologizing, but only ever after having stormed off and having time to think. "I-It's nothing..."

"It's not nothing," he shook his head while scrubbing the plate down under running water. "I appreciate it. So thanks again."

Lili nodded mutely at that before getting up from the table. "E-Enjoy your run, Lee."

* * *

It was a clear, sunny morning in Vale. The early autumn air and excellent weather meant that today was a great day for walking and taking in the cities sight. Stretching her arms above her head and breathing deeply of the clean morning breeze in Vale central park, Yang Xiao Long luxuriated in the atmosphere.

She was the very picture of a young huntress's confidence, and to some, their vanity. Adventurous and bold huntress's clothes. Lovingly cared for bright blonde hair shining in the sunlight. A well-toned, fit physique. All of it (usually) topped with her confident stride and cocky grin.

Of course, Yang was more than just a self-confident huntress. She was also an older sister. A wonderful older sister at that, who actively looked after her sister and ensured her well-being.

And currently a rather miffed sister at that.

"Ruby, you had better pick up this time..." She hummed to herself with a saccharine tone as the dial tone rang on her scroll. Her sister had disappeared on her, _again,_ eliciting worry from the big sister. With any hope though her sister had simply run off to another Dust or weapons store. Her sister was insatiable when it came to her weapons fetish (yet another concern of Yang's) and was prone to running off on her own with the slightest of fancies. Despite how close the two sisters were, they shared little in common when it came to their shopping habits.

Unfortunately, even though there were red petals scattered here and there from the young Rose's Semblance, it was fairly windy. Following her sister's trail wasn't possible.

The pick-up tone went through on Yang's scroll, flooding her with relief. "Ruby! Where are you?"

"Uhh, Yang, listen. I saw something really, _really_ important..." Ruby said in a conspiratorial tone, causing Yang to listen in even more intently.

"What is it, Rubes? What did you see?" She asked, stepping aside from the walking path to avoid being overheard.

"It's..." Ruby started, practically hyperventilating.

"Yes?" Yang said fearfully, dreading for her sisters safety if she was caught.

"It's...!"

" _Yes?_ "

"It's a diamond-tipped lance with built-in rocket thrusters! It's _soooo_ cool and I want it! No, Yang, I need it!" Ruby let out a gleeful squeal.

"Wait. What?" Yang asked incredulously, the sudden whiplash leading to an expression that, were Ruby there, she would have happily taken a picture of.

Ruby's voice continued gushing over the scroll call, ignorant of her older sister's confusion. Hardly a word of what she was saying got through to Yang as she kept processing the cause of her disbelief. A strange mixture of palpable relief, sisterly rage, and resignation washing over the sunny teen.

Suddenly very exhausted and aware that Ruby wouldn't stop talking anytime soon about the mechanical aspects of the lance she was suddenly very much in love with. (Seriously Ruby, why!) Yang knew she had to put a stop to her adorable, innocent sisters raving soon. Even if she wanted, Yang could scarcely keep up with her little sister's encyclopedic weapon's knowledge anyways.

"Wait wait wait!" Yang interrupted, Ruby thankfully stopping her rambling and waiting. "Look, Ruby, just... tell me where you are and how long you think you'll be there?" she asked with some exasperation.

"Umm, hmm... Well... A few hours I think? Look, Yang, I really have to look at this thing. It's absolutely incredible in ways you wouldn't believe! The Dust mixture the maker used to power the thrusters is-"

Yang exhaled as she was forced to listen for another minute before a good chance arrived to interrupt the enthusiastic Rose.

"Look, Ruby, it's fine if you want to check out the weapons shops today. Just... be sure to tell me where you are and keep in regular contact. Okay?"

"Mmmh... Okay." The sound of Ruby noisily pouting made Yang smile despite her weariness. Her sister was really too cute for her own good.

"Great. I'll see you later, Rubes. Don't have too much fun without me~" Yang teased with renewed vigor.

"Yaaang!" Ruby whined, and Yang could already imagine the blush on her face. She ended the call there, a refreshed smile on her face for the first time since Ruby had gallivanted off to indulge her weapons fetish. _Really, that girl... Why did it have to be a lance?_ She shook her head to get her mind out of the gutter.

 _Now what?_ Yang asked herself while glancing around. She would see Ruby a few more times today, but the girl would doubtless run off again. Once Ruby had gone to one weapons shop she would want to go to them all. It was just how she was. That left her having to figure out what she would do herself. Window shopping was an option for Yang, but she already had her fill and it wouldn't be as fun without friends or Ruby there.

So what did that leave? Yang's smile dimmed slightly as she looked about Vale central park to consider her immediate options. The park was full of students on break like herself she noticed now. Most of them were civilians, but she could tell a number were huntsman-in-training, and a few faces she recognized from Signal's graduating class. None of them she knew, though. There were a few food carts and other stalls distributed through the park, there to cash in on students wanting to enjoy the remainder of their summer break.

Some of the students kept looking her way, though none would meet her gaze. _Eh, gawkers. If you're so interested you should do a little more than stare, y'know?_ Grinning ruefully, Yang started walking. Peace and quiet weren't really her thing, but she could enjoy it for the time being.

 _Let's see... A jewelry stall? Pretty, but they would just get in the way. Food? Meh, too early for lunch. Weapon parts? Ember Celica is already perfect, plus no Ruby. Scroll cart? I'm good. Music albums? Oohh, that could be worth checking out._

When Yang turned to walk towards the cart she noticed someone was about to jog straight into her. She made to step back instead but her effort to avoid them was rendered moot when they turned to go in the same direction, bumping into her with a masculine "oomph."

"Oof. Hey there, slick." Yang said with her trademark sly grin, supporting the person- a guy, taller than her- by grasping his shoulder before he lost his balance.

"Uh, hey, sorry." He looked up at her apologetically, meeting her warm violet eyes with his mild green for a moment. Righting himself and stepping back from her, Yang watched with wry amusement as he took a second look at her, his eyes going wide and darting all over to take her appearance in. She placed her hands on her hips and took a look at him herself since he had the audacity to check her out so blatantly.

He was handsome, if a little plain with his green eyes and almost-brown hair. _Not exactly exotic. Solid color scheme though, I'll give him a B plus there._ She thought jokingly. His gray tee and shorts were evidence that he was in fact exercising, and didn't just bump into her to hit on her. Despite the exercise though, he was far from muscular, with barely a sign of toned muscle on his slim body. That was wasn't unusual, and ordinarily wouldn't have merited thought if not for the blocky weapon on his back. _A huntsman-in-training this weak? That's strange. Wonder what his story is?_

Turning her eyes back up to his face she saw that he was still staring.. Apparently he was starstruck by her beauty? _Poor thing._ Too bad for him, Yang wasn't one for mercy when presented such a great opportunity.

"See something you like?~" She teased easily, startling him out of his reverie when she leaned forward suggestively.

"Uhm, er. Nope?" He said nervously, throwing Yang off for just a moment before realizing he was pretending to be unaffected.

"Oh? You so sure? Don't want any of this?" She gave him a flirtatious wink.

His reaction was hilarious, almost enough to make Yang laugh then and there. But no, she needed the full payout, so she held back her laughter by grinning even wider. Standing up straight, she took a pose, both hands crossed behind her head and her chest sticking out to see how he would react. "Well?" She asked again.

"Buh?" He said dumbly.

Yang immediately broke out into laughter, crossing her arms over her stomach tightly. This was too much! "Snrk! Buh?!" She mimics, laughing even harder at his grumpy expression.

"Hey, you try figuring out what to say when you unknowingly bump into a beautiful woman and she immediately starts teasing you!" He shouted in consternation, blushing madly now.

Immediately Yang got her laughter under control. _This is too good to pass up, even if it was an accident he spilled._ "Ohhh?~" she drew out. "What was that you said? That I'm a..." She gestured to herself, grinning victoriously. "Beautiful woman?"

The unnamed teen before her frowned and crossed his arms. "Is that seriously the part you focused on?"

"Yup! A girl always loves being complimented, smooth talker~"

He rolled his eyes and his expression became more controlled. "Fine, sure, whatever. It was nice meeting you, yellow jacket. I've got some more exercise to get back to."

When he went to move past her, Yang grabbed his arm with her own, practically hugging it to her side and startling him again. _He blushes pretty easily, heh!_

"Hey now, don't get so angry. It was just some harmless fun. Name's Yang Xiao-Long. How about you? Or should I just keep calling you smooth talker?"

He blinked a few times before finally settling down after sighing softly. "Fine. Lee Gage Enfield, but most people call me Gage."

 _Great, he's a better sport than I figured._ "Nice to meet you Gage! So tell me, you're a huntsman-in-training, right?" She asked him enthusiastically. Yang couldn't help her curiosity, he didn't _look_ like a hunter, but with a weapon like that- she still didn't know what it was- and the fact he was relatively calm around a huntress like herself indicated as much.

"I'll answer you if you can find it in your heart to return my arm to me. I sort of need it." He said dryly, looking down at the arm she was still gripping.

"Sure, sure, but only if you promise to not run away on me, _Engage._ " Yang replied, unfazed by his dry humor. The delivery wasn't half-bad though, even if it wasn't her style.

Heaving another sigh he simply responded, "Deal."

Letting go of his arm, Yang stepped beside him, following him as he started walking. It wasn't quite the jog he was doing earlier as they were now fast walking. _Ooh, he has enough thought to try and keep the conversation going over running? He's nicer than he seems. Might be a gentleman under that grumpiness._

"Alright, well you're correct. I just recently passed Torch's alternative qualification exams, so I'll be heading to Beacon soon." He glanced her way for just a moment before looking forward. "How's about you?"

"Graduated from Signal with top grades." Yang grinned cheekily but noted the slightly envious expression he made. She gave him a rough pat on the shoulder. He had to be decent to impress the teachers there. Her dad had told her the exams were easy, but the hard part was convincing the professor's that you had potential too. That had to count for something. "Sooo~ You're not exactly winning any weight-lifting contests there, how did you manage to impress the professors? Some super secret talent? An awesome weapon? Ooh, maybe bribery?"

The slight grin that sprouted on his face wasn't what Yang expected to see, making her smile fade marginally as her genuine interest was caught. "Let's just say I'm particularly talented with Dust and leave it at that."

"Aw, c'mon! I can keep a secret!" Yang's grin renewed itself.

His smile receded slightly as he focused his gaze forward. "Well, Ms. Top Grades. Unlike some of us I happen to be Torch's best worst student. Or the worst best student, take your pick."

Yang adopted a wry smile, unsure what he meant by that. "Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Gage looked around at the park, pausing his stride and gesturing with his chin. Yang looked where he indicated, spotting a group of huntsman trainees. They happened to be scowling their way, though at Gage in particular. She quirked her brow and looked back to him. "What's their deal, Engage?"

Gage kept his eyes on the group as he started to speak, his gaze bored, and even somewhat derisive. "See now, until the exam I was holding out on my fellow students. Before that, I was just Torch's weakest student to them, bar none. Now I'm the guy who cheated his way past the exam, 'cuz I throw a lot of firepower at my problems." He let out a single bark of a laugh. "Not that they're mistaken. Without my Dust, I'm pretty weak."

"That's pretty interesting, even if you're holding out on telling _me_ now. _Xiao Long_ were you waiting to show off?" She grinned that little bit more, always eager to work in a pun.

He snorted at that, trying to hold back a smile. "That was bad, and you should feel bad." He shook his head for a second before glancing at her. "Xiao is a pretty weird middle name though."

"Xiao-Long is my last name." Her grin transformed into a knowing smirk at the dumb expression Gage made.

"Oh. Huh. Thought I'd finally met someone else who had a middle name. Bummer." The disappointment he was having over something so trivial was great, Yang decided. She knew just how to follow up on it!

"Looking for middle name besties, huh?" The scowl Gage made at that only set Yang laughing again.

"Jeez. This is what I get for judging people on appearance," he said to himself, rubbing his forehead.

Yang didn't quite understand the remark, but let it pass. "So how about my question? You're quite the mystery man, and I gotta say you got my interest." She trailed this up with another playful wink.

"Yeah, maybe you'll find out at Beacon. A guy always likes being mysterious," he quipped back at her.

It took her a moment before Yang noticed his choice of phrasing, bringing her a chuckle. _Alright, this guy isn't half bad! Kind of hope he manages to get into Beacon, sounds like he would be fun._

"Anyways, Yang, it's been fun talking with you but I think I should get serious with my jogging now and I'm sure you had other things you were intending to do today." Yang rolled her eyes at that, thinking of her errant sister. It was still hours until she would see her again if Yang didn't go drop in on her staring at that lance, if Ruby hadn't already moved on already.

"Sure, I expect you'll make it into Beacon, mysterious... Lee." It took Gage a few moments to figure out her pun, causing him to snort again. _Definitely a great sense of humor._ "I'll have to whip you into shape afterwards though, gotta make sure my new friend hits with a _Yang._ " She punched one fist into her open palm. Seeing his alarmed expression pleased her. That he was already worried about the trials she would put him through meant it would be all the more entertaining to do.

"Uhh, thank you? That won't be necessary though." Gage laughed awkwardly.

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. In fact, give me your Scroll, I'm adding you to my contacts list." She grinned mischievously. No way she was letting him off the hook!

"Ahhh welllll. I don't carry my Scroll with me and I don't have my number either?" Another bout of fake laughter followed that.

"Oh? That's too bad. Here then, mysterious Lee. _My_ Scroll number," Yang said cockily, pulling out her wallet and a piece of paper from within it with a Scroll number on it. The way he pursed his lips and opened his eyes wide was priceless. "And you had better give me a call otherwise I'll deck you when I see you at Beacon. Later, handsome~" Giving him one last wink and an enthusiastic wave, Yang took off at a run.

 _I'm still upset with you Ruby, but thanks for running off, otherwise I would never have met this guy. Messing with him is gonna be good!_ Yang chuckled to herself evilly, already thinking of ways to put Gage through the wringer.

* * *

Gaping after her back as Yang Xiao-Long practically skipped away while humming- a very disturbing sight to his mind- Gage was left absolutely speechless. He looked back down at the piece of paper between his fingers, confirming once more that it was, in fact, real and that yes, a girl- nay, _a bombshell of a babe,_ had just handed him her Scroll number and told him to call her.

"I'm still sleeping, right?" He pinched his cheek. Ow. _Okay, definitely awake._

…

"Did she seriously keep a scrap of paper with her Scroll number on it just to hand it out for the fun of it?" he mumbled dumbly, not for the first time that day.

Closing his hanging mouth with an audible click of his teeth, Gage put the piece of paper into his wallet, lest he lose it and get punched.

A girl had literally just given him her Scroll number because she wanted to be his friend.

"What did I even do?!" he squawked.

 _No, seriously, what did I do that was even remotely worth using the f word for? Ooohhh, I think I'm getting a headache._

* * *

Staffing the main display desk at From Dust 'Til Dawn used to be Gage's least favorite part of his part-time job at the store. Now, standing there, polishing the steel plating of his Dust gauntlet and the solid green of his Dust tome, Gage found that he had something productive _and_ good at occupy his mind while waiting for customers. All without being so unprofessional as to play on his Scroll, something the Boss had shook his head to when he asked if he could. Coming up with a good way to occupy his time had really made the job far more bearable.

Of course, it also gave him plentiful time to stand, think, and watch Vale's night sky through the glass windows of the shop. _Still need to recommend putting a metal wire frame for security._

"Roman Torchwick..." Gage mumbled the name out to himself, testing it. If the man showed his face here, he would be in for a rude awakening. Fighting a Dust mage in a Dust shop? Yeah, not a great idea. Still, he hoped the man had the good sense to realize all his Dust robberies served him no good. Offloading the Dust to sell it would be absurdly difficult. Whatever he was doing with it likely meant it was all in storage... _Somewhere._

 _Maybe he has an entire army of Atlas droids he intends to unleash upon the city? Yeah, right._

Watching the cityscape from the relative safety and warmth of the store, Gage found himself musing over just how... _Fake_ the city can be. The sense of peace that permeated it felt illusory. Roman Torchwick was out there, somewhere, and even if the government saw him as only a minor nuisance, the fact was that Vale's police department would not be able to apprehend him. They were simply too poorly armed and funded.

 _I adore Vale more than any other kingdom, and there's no way I would have chosen to be schooled anywhere but here, but still. Vale is by far the best kingdom at lying to itself._

Vacuo had once occupied that role, but ever since the kingdom lost its abundant natural wealth and rapaciously assaulted by Atlas, the place was now the least willing to lie to itself. But the uncouth nature of the kingdom also was to his disliking. Studying at Shade would most likely have been an unpleasant experience, unfair as it was for him to judge off limited information.

Mistral was also quite honest with itself, but sometimes the place simply chose to voluntarily forget as much. Corruption was rife in the kingdom, and it was so diverse and spread out as to be confusing. Simply put, Gage could never get a read on what Mistral would have been like, making it a wild card to go to Haven.

Atlas, though, Gage held an especially vivid hatred for. He was of the firm belief that separation of military and huntsman were done out of practicality to avoid another war. Turning military's into purely defensive implements had been a good choice. The creation of Huntsman Academies to enable small, organized groups of highly-skilled fighters to act in both a reconnaissance and offensive capacity in eliminating the Grimm both reduced total casualties in the conflict but also drew in a good deal of recruits for such a cause. And Atlas just had to go and muck that up.

Of course, despite how idiotic he thought it was, there was also a reason for it beyond the historical context. Atlas didn't like making noise of it, but their populace was both smaller and less passionate about joining the military or an Academy. Top that off with a lower immigration rate and Atlas had practical reasons for the choice. That didn't mean that Gage approved of the decision though, just understood it.

Point being, much as Vale was flawed, prone to lying to itself, and believed that peace was both a real and lasting thing. He would still choose it first. It was all the more reason why Gage wanted to protect his home, even if he was no longer the naive boy who had once believed those same things.

He stopped where he was thinking- ranting to himself, really- when the one customer in the store came up to the front desk carrying a magazine. The black-and-red themed girl was cute and very shy, in contrast to the dark theme of her clothing. _Another example of why not to judge a book by its cover._ Her eyes were a unique shade of silver, a fact that stuck out to him but he didn't ask her about. That would be rude.

"Umm, hey, Mr..." She narrowed her eyes while looking at his nametag. "Enfield? Yeah, I'd like to buy some Dust." He gave a nod and retrieved a set of keys for opening the display cases around the store.

"Do you know what type of Dust and the purpose you will be using it for? I can assist you if you need some help determining as much." Working with Dust could be complicated stuff. This was his favorite part of the job, helping people find the right type of Dust for their needs. Be it industrial, ammunition, weapons upgrades or any number of strange uses.

"Ah, no... I was wanting to get some gravity Dust like this article talks about," she said while pointing to the magazine article she was referring to. "So I could try making my weapon lighter." Gage raises his eyebrows just the slightest bit. A girl this young wanting to customize her weapon? And with how meek she was, too. _Again, the book thing._ He nodded to her respectfully.

"Right this way. You'll want some high-quality ground gravity Dust so you can apply it thinly and still get a noticeable effect, with a greatly reduced risk of any accidents with it. Do you prefer longevity or a temporary enhancement? The former is more costly to make work without risk of incidents, the latter is great if you're still experimenting or want only a temporary change to your gears attributes. You also have the option of using a single gravity Dust gem if your weapon has the space to slot one in, it would yield the most consistent results and be the most easily replaced, but it requires there be space in the internals of your weapon to slot it in."

All of this came second-nature to Gage, having worked with Dust so closely for so long. Even if his Semblance foibled the details of how it got a result, the result would still be improved using quality Dust mixes.

The girls reaction to his explanation was initially to stare in wide-eyed admiration, not an altogether bad feeling. After, she tilted her head down, furrowing her brow and considering with a small "hm." Gage unlocked the appropriate display for unique mixes of ground gravity Dust.

"Uhh, I think I'll try the second one. If that works out, then I guess I could come back and try something else...? I'm not really used to using Dust, but that sounds like it would work good."

 _Work well,_ he mentally corrected. Smiling softly at her, he nodded. "One or two vials? We don't allow more per customer for this stock due to shortages right now, but two should be more than enough really." The girl gave a nod and held up two fingers. Obligingly, Gage retrieved two vials worth of the Dust from the display before locking it up and going to the lien register.

"Will that be all for you? Do you want the magazine too?" He grinned for a moment. "You were reading it for quite some time, after all."

The girl blushed more than he was expecting her to, flustered for a reason he wasn't entirely sure of- probably an over-reaction- before looking at the magazine and shaking her head, causing her short hair to tousle about.

"Alright. I'll need to see your huntsman-in-training card first, then I can ring you up for two vials of premium gravity Dust." She offered the card and he checked it. Seeing nothing wrong, he named the price of her purchase, the girl nodded and handed over the correct lien. "Thank you for your purchase, your shopping is appreciated in such trying times." He smiled again, even if it felt a bit fake to him it was enough to get the girl to smile back.

"Thank you for the help!" She shouted in a happy voice as she left the store, leaving only the tinkle of the store bell when she left.

That left Gage alone again to look at Remnant's shattered moon once more. Though he still found himself fearing for Vale's continued peace, tonight at the very least, remained peaceful.

* * *

 **A/N:** Phew! This chapter took a lot more work and really grew quite a bit more than I expected. Now we're setting the stage, and diverting from the original timeline. This entire story is written on the premise of it being another timeline anyhow, so some things here and there will be different, and intentionally so. I have plans, oh yes...

A lot of that opening monologue was much shorter originally, but it kept growing as I realized there was more I wanted to write. Probably not a good thing, but it should be the last time for a while that we'll see Gage doing that for so long. It's meant to be our last 'introductory' insight into his character.

I know we've seen scarce little drama, but that's because Mr. Enfield is not prone to rudeness upon first meeting. I also have plans for this, oh yes...

So while I'm here, let me tell you about Lee Gage Enfield and what's up with his name. No, not the part of why he chooses to use his middle name, that can be revealed in-story or by basic guesswork. The Lee-Enfield was a bolt-action rifle wielded by Great Britain during WW1 predominantly. The fact that Gage has this for his name was actually _purely_ accidental. Enfield, I chose as a last name because it was cool. Gage, too. When I stepped back and realized I needed a color scheme name, I had shifted Gage to his middle name, came up with a reason for it, then found a name I thought was fitting for Lee to have as his first name. Off the top of my head, Lee translates into leah, one of the interpretations of which is "forest clearing." With his relatives names all being types of trees or plants, this sets Lee apart yet distinctly similar to them. Then I noticed the Lee-Enfield thing since I'm a weapons nerd, and I just decided... that's a funny coincidence. Oh well!

Anyways, I will see you all next time. As usual, I'll only ask for reviews at the start and end of volumes since I don't want to inundate you all with requests. So if you liked the story or had a complaint, please, let me know. Take care folks.


	6. V 01 Chapter 06

Started writing, 08/13/2018

Last edit, 08/28/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from.

* * *

Volume 01, Chapter 06.

Target of Ire

* * *

Gage stared intently at the Scroll held tightly in his hand and the new contact entry registered therein. On it, the number Yang Xiao-Long had given him had returned as being registered under her name. She hadn't been pulling his leg...

Most guys would be ecstatic to be given the phone number of an incredibly beautiful lady like Yang. Gage, however, couldn't help but feel anything but uneasy with her. _I guess that makes me unusual, and not in a good way._ Biting his lip he considered once more why he should, or shouldn't call her.

With Beacon tomorrow, if he didn't call her now she might very well punch him as she had promised. Obviously, that thought didn't scare him in any way. They were Huntsman-in-training, the culture (not that he was very in tune with it) meant that a punch or two was far from taboo. The result of Aura and combat training making even a weak student incredibly durable compared with a civilian. Roughhousing was basically a given among trainees.

While Yang was certainly... _interesting_ and much more fun than he would have liked to admit from their very brief meeting, she also left him confused and in disarray. Her boundless good cheer and easy teasing left him completely flat-footed. Gage didn't like that, or the reminder of how similar that was to his first crush. He had gotten a lot better at dealing with teasing, thank Dust, but the similarity still made him uneasy.

A little corner of his mind whispered that he should try and get _closer_ to her precisely because of this, but it was quickly punched in the metaphorical face by his metaphorical gauntlet. He would have said that she deserved better than being treated like that, but considering Gage was liable to hurt her feelings just to keep a comfortable distance from her? He wasn't exactly thinking about her well-being to start with. _Not like I stand a chance with her anyways. Stupid teenage hormones..._

Ultimately though, the real reason he wasn't calling was because he couldn't stand to be threatened. It was stupid of him, really. Her words must have been in good cheer on her part, a joke really, but once he had started to think about it he quickly realized how much it pissed him off. After that, every other reason was just background noise.

It was basically an ultimatum. _Be my friend, or else._ That... did not sit well with Gage. He knew he was being a purist and far too pedantic about this, but he really couldn't stand being forced into something. That wasn't friendship at all.

Closing his eyes, he attempted to reign in his rough breathing and the smoldering bitterness in his heart. He let the Scroll drop into his travel bag.

Perhaps if he were a more honest soul he would take the time to call and apologize. Tell her he didn't think they were friends yet, and should take things at a more regular pace. But the idea didn't make him feel any better. If anything, it actively angered him. _Why do I have to explain myself to her? She and I aren't really friends, and I don't want to have to deal with this either._

But he was already a part of this even though he didn't want to be. He couldn't just exist in some vacuum where he could simply avoid her consequence-free. Just ignoring her wouldn't make the problem go away. Tomorrow, Yang Xiao-Long would likely confront him at some point. What little he had gleaned of her told him of her directness.

He would be forced to stand his ground against her. Rebuff her, and hopefully avoid getting caught up in any obligation to try and be her friend. His fists relaxed, but only out of growing weariness. _Would she be angry? Disappointed?_ That nearly-constant smile of hers would likely not make an appearance for him tomorrow. That actually disappointed him a bit, to his chagrin. Her smile was her single most charming point, in his dishonest opinion.

That metaphorical desire to punch himself solidified into a very real desire.

* * *

It was a bright, sun-filled morning the day of Beacon's opening ceremony. With it came the natural clamor and crowding of the docking station for airships traveling between Vale and Beacon. Hopeful applicants along with their friends and family were there, bidding the aspiring students farewell and wishing them luck. Not every applicant would make it in, but that did not diminish the good spirits of the crowd. The din of laughter, soft crying and constant conversation permeated the air with a constant background hum as prospective students awaited the airships that would deliver them to Beacon Academy.

Some groups were loud in their farewells; others softer yet no less heartfelt. And then, of course, there was one particularly rambunctious trio that stood out from them all.

"Gack! Dad, save me...!" Ruby managed to squeak out as Yang gave her the strongest possible hug she could manage without causing any lasting damage.

Their father Taiyang just grinned and watched. "You'll be fine, Ruby. It's just your sister's way of saying she loves you."

"I'm gonna miss you sooo much!" Yang declared loudly, eyes shut tight in an effort to not cry. Leaving home and being separated from her adorable little sister was almost too much for her to handle.

"I-I know, Yang... so let go...!" Ruby said, her struggling gradually growing weaker as she lost her strength. Yang finally obliged her and Ruby fell back against her father Taiyang who helped keep her standing while she caught her breath. After a few moments of getting her bearings, Ruby stepped away from both of them and gave the biggest possible pout she could manage. It was, as always, adorable. She stomped her foot and leaned forward with her fists balled cutely. "I could've died you know, dad!"

Both father and sister started laughing at that, and it took a few moments before Ruby was smiling again. She stepped forward and gave Yang a much softer hug, nestling her head in close to her shoulder.

"I'll miss you too, Sis."

Their father joined them in their much softer embrace, and while both sisters gave their own complaints about him stifling them the small family smiled all the more. When they finally stepped away from Yang she was barely holding back her tears again.

 _Gosh, I'm really going to miss them._ Yang had been aware she would, but thinking it and experiencing it were two totally different things. She sniffled and wiped her eyes before flashing her family a bright smile.

"What, no goodbye hug for your old man?" Taiyang said with a slightly teasing note. Her response was to lightly punch his shoulder, causing him to feign being hurt before grinning and drawing Yang in for another hug. She grinned despite her protests, especially at the hand mussing her hair. When he finally let go and Yang started fixing her hair, he leveled her with a small smile. "I know I wasn't happy when you first started training to become a Huntress, Yang. But I want you to know I'm proud of you and always will be."

"Thanks, Dad." Yang said honestly, her smile extra warm as she continued to tend to her golden locks.

"Hey, hey. Yang." Ruby stage whispered, interrupting their moment.

"What's up, Ruby?" Yang turned curiously to see what had her sister riled up. Ruby was pointing towards the crowd of students at someone specific.

They were wearing a forest green jacket that draped shawl-like over their shoulders, with gray slacks and a thin pair of glasses. She could only see him from behind, and were it not for his familiar almost-brown hair and the unusually blocky weapon at his back, Yang would not have recognized him even though he was pointed out.

Yang chuckled darkly once it registered who he was. _There you are, Engage~ I've been waiting to see you. You left me Yanging for a week, so I hope you're ready for some payback!_

At first, she had been hoping to start a new friendship before Beacon. Emphasis on _start,_ Yang knew personally she was slow to actually trust someone. It was why she was never very intimate with her friend group from Signal. They were great to hang out with but that was about it. Yang didn't really have any expectations or see anything "special" in Gage, but one life lesson her sister Ruby had yet to learn was that to make a friend, sometimes you just have to dive right in and hope for the best!

After a few days with no call though, Yang had been livid. She'd been so excited, and now nothing?! Ugh! The nerve of the guy.

Yang wasn't angry a _nymore_ though. She had gotten over it already. Now, she just wanted a chance to grill him for answers and tease him as comeuppance. Maybe about him being too shy to give her a call? Yang knew very well the effect she had on guys, and he had certainly seemed shell-shocked when she left him.

And maybe if his reason was good enough, Yang wouldn't hit him. She hadn't been serious about it to start with, but if he was just brushing her off? Yang couldn't be held accountable for her reaction.

"I'm pretty sure that's the guy who was working at the Dust shop!" Ruby continued, bringing Yang's attention back to her. "What do you think his weapon is? Maybe it's a Dust-caster?" Ruby gasped. "Which is why he knows so much about Dust!"

"Uh, Ruby, not to shatter your dreams, but his job kind of requires he know about Dust too." Yang said skeptically, not that Ruby paid her attention.

Watching her sister practically bounce on her feet with pent-up curiosity gave Yang an idea though. Her smile took on a mischievous glint. "Just so happens I've met him before too, Rubes." She wrapped an arm about Ruby's shoulder, who looked quizzically at Yang's cheshire grin. "Come on, let me go introduce you to him. Don't wait up for us, Dad~"

"Wait, wait. Yang? Who is that boy? Yang!" She pointedly ignored her father's calls and made a quick getaway with Ruby.

* * *

Gage was having some difficulty keeping calm. Some strange juxtaposition of uneasiness and weary acceptance ran through his veins, leaving him both hyper-aware of his surroundings and dull to them.

Being surrounded by a crowd was normally something he was at ease with. It helped that he didn't stand out much at all, even as a Huntsman. But today he was surrounded by families and friends- however, none of them were his. Like always, he stood alone...

Well, not absolutely always. Most of the time anyhow.

His decisions had all been his own, though. Finding allies was only ever a temporary thing for him. Reuniting with Iris at Torch was a happy coincidence, but only just that. Blake had been a one-off thing, he had barely connected with her and only after Iris had done him the favor of pushing him to make up for being needlessly rude. Those cases stood out to him, but many more faces appeared in his mind. Old friends whose names he had forgotten and a handful of one-sided crushes he never took anywhere.

While he had caught sight of Blake and considered approaching her, she was occupied with reading. He couldn't bring himself to bother her, especially with the tiff he was in. No, right now he had only his mind to occupy himself.

 _Now I_ really _wish I had Blake's talent for reading anywhere though._ He sighed externally, very much wishing for a distraction.

 _Alright, so, Mr. Enfield. What's got you so stressed out?_

 _Why thank you for asking, Mr. Enfield! So as annoying as being throttled by a buff blonde babe or grappling with my envy of all these pleasant families is, those are trivial compared with today's main event. Y'see, I'm going to Beacon Academy today._

…

 _Oh, right. I'm going to Beacon. This is really happening. Eight(-ish) long years trying to train to get here, and now here I actually am. Huh._

Well, that certainly explained the minute trembling. The realization helped him begin reigning in his nerves, finally relaxing his tense shoulders.

For a moment, he was blissfully ignorant of the noise of the outside world and at peace.

That moment was quickly broken as something- no, _someone_ clapped him hard on the shoulder, causing him to stumble forward with what could be best defined as a cross between a grunt and a squawk.

It took him a few moments to process what exactly had happened before he swiveled around angrily to berate his aggressor, only to find himself staring into beautiful lilac eyes.

"Uh..." His anger was immediately defused as soon as it hit him that he was looking into the eyes of one Yang Xiao-Long. A myriad of emotions jumbled up in his mind, all attempting to jam through the same doorway at the same time and preventing any of them from making it through to his mind.

Even in his disoriented state, a few things stood out to him. First, there was a girl in black and red standing behind her- possibly a friend? She looked familiar, actually. Second, Yang was in fact grinning, once again reminding him to not assume so much about others if he really wanted to avoid being a hypocrite. Third, their was a... scheming note to her smirk. _That's not worrisome at all..._

"Hey! Nice duds, Engage. Real sharp. I'm sure you'll do juuust fine on your job interview," she said, indicating the shirt and tie he had on under his jacket. _Admittedly, they do make me look like I'm an office worker._ Gage frowned, but Yang winked playfully and clapped Gage on the shoulder again. It was hard to be annoyed with her in the moment, what with the blinding grin she was directing at him. That thing was weapons-grade, no doubt about it.

"Uh, hiya. Didn't see you there," he said in a frazzled tone. "And, thanks...?" He looked away, hoping for some distraction and found himself staring into sterling silver eyes. "Who's this?"

Yang whirled around the silver-eyed girl and grasped her small shoulders, pushing her forward before she could protest. The girl squeaked as she was suddenly face-to-face with Gage, the adorably distressed expression on her face also qualifying as weapons-grade. "This is my sister, Ruby! Say hi, Ruby~"

"H-Hey, uh, nice to meet you...?" The red-themed girl fidgeted and kept glancing at him from an angle, never quite meeting his eyes.

Gage watched her a few moments before looking at Yang for comparison. _They don't exactly look like sisters_. While being of different build wasn't so unusual for siblings, the complete disparity in hair, eye and skin color was noteworthy. _Oh well, perhaps their parents are just radically different looking so the genetics flip-flopped._ He mentally shrugged and let his curiosity go; inquiring would be rude and start him down a topic that he wasn't sure he wanted to pursue.

"Gage Enfield. Please, call me Gage." He offered his hand to her, hoping to spare her from the awkwardness he had momentarily let build up.

Ruby shot him a relieved look. "R-Ruby. Ruby Rose." She shyly took his hand and shook it, her grip lax, but the calluses on her hand were certainly a contrast to her demure charm. _Curious._

"So..." He intoned, unsure where he should take things. Ruby piped in, to his own relief.

"So, umm! A-About your weapon..." Ruby trailed off, leaving Gage to cock his head to the side curiously.

Yang shook her head with a wry smile, stepping in to cover for her shy sister. "What Ruby's trying to say is that she wants to see your weapon, Mr. Shopkeep."

Gage raised his eyebrow. Without speaking he retrieved his multi-action Dust tome from his back, where it was suspended in place by his new magnetic belt. _So glad I bought one of these finally._

When he held the book out by the spine for Ruby, she moved at a speed he could barely process, her eyes practically glittered as she took the weapon and turned it over in her hands rapidly, running her fingers over the triggers on it carefully. She oohed and awed at his weapon, murmuring admiration for the weapon at first but her reactions quickly shifted to bemusement, before settling on distress.

"Huh? What? G-Gage... Your weapon _is_ a Dust-caster, right? I-I mean, it looks just like a spell book or something!" She said with something nearing hysteria, a fact that certainly got Yang's attention. Her _sister_ of all people couldn't tell?

Gage for his part was enjoying her confusion. His weapon was a heresy meant to take advantage of how his Semblance worked. Anyone else trying to use it would find that it was useless, or worse, basically a bomb.

"That's correct, but as I'm sure you've noticed, Elemental Archive is a bit unusual," Gage said, finally taking control of the conversation.

"Y-You could say that, I mean... N-No firing ports for Dust? That's preeetty wild!" Ruby faked laughter before awkwardly petering off. "S-So, I'm not sure about this, but the metal it's made of. It conducts Dust, right? _Right?_ "

Gage did his best to control his grin, but his best proved insufficient. "Incorrect. In fact, it actually repels Dust."

Ruby blanched and just stared at his weapon with a mixture of disappointment, pity and wariness. Even Yang, who seemed to be less into the conversation now, was staring at him with a look that said she thought he was totally dumb.

Both of them would have been completely right in their assumptions if not for his Semblance. _I never get tired of this,_ he thought, in contrast to the fact that he had only gotten to confuse people with his Dust-caster a handful of times. Doing so with Professor Gorgo had been a terrible choice of course, but it would make for a great memory. Once he was over the trauma anyhow.

"I use my Semblance to directly convert the Dust stored in my weapon. Strictly speaking, it's no longer Dust at that point, so drawing out the converted energy is easy. It's crude, but instead of making a regular Dust-caster, I made one that behaves more like a secure lock box so I have a big supply of Dust and nobody can steal it. Plus the thing is so sturdy that actually denting it would require a tremendous effort." Gage reached into his pocket and took out a small key ring, unlocking the weapon and opening it like a book, revealing the large internal cylinder with numerous slots for regulation-sized Dust cylinders and a small on-board computer that properly cycled between Dust types in order. Made using the weapon so much easier.

Ruby's expression quickly shifted back to glittering eyes and fascination, and for a moment he worried she might snatch the weapon and run off with it.

Before Ruby could start asking any questions- and based on the way she was practically hyperventilating told him she had many- Yang stepped in again. "Alright, alright, take it easy Rubes!" she said, laughing at Ruby's very big pout. "You can ask him more about his weapon another time, right?" Yang said, turning and winking at Gage.

Gage's good cheer quickly withdrew when he noticed the promise for what it was. "Perhaps if a good chance shows up," he said noncommittally, retrieving his weapon and locking it once more.

"Hmmm," Yang gave him her most scrutinizing look yet, though he pointedly refused to meet it.

Ruby however deflated with visible disappointment "Aww..."

Gage looked away guiltily, rubbing his chin nervously. He knew better than to speak up now though. Doing so would either end with him promising to do more than Yang had asked, or hurting both girls feelings. Just because he was uneasy with getting close to them didn't mean he disliked them.

"Aw c'mon, Engage!" Yang was suddenly on him, hooking an arm around his neck and grinning at him sidelong. Gage was bewildered for a moment, having expected she would leave it alone and depart, before remembering who exactly he was dealing with. "Come Yang out with Rubes and me on break?~ It'll be fun!"

 _This... She's just trying to throw me off again, isn't she?_ Gage sighed and looked at her directly. That damnable grin of hers was still there. Well, if she couldn't take a hint, he'd just have to return her direct fire with his own, wouldn't he?

"You can't say that for sure. I'm a pretty boring person, Yang," he said in complete deadpan, far less welcoming and more firm than his usual soft tone. Yang shifted slightly, pursing her lips and considering him. _Good, that's a start._ "I don't know about you, but reading a good history book in a quiet corner is my idea of a good time. And really, there's not much to talk about my weapon either," he gestured to Ruby then, who was watching him uncertainly. "I didn't build it, and the design is basic specifically so it does its job without any accidents. There's nothing fun, or interesting, about me or my weapon."

It took a moment, but Yang grinned once more, this time with a good deal more fire. Ruby sighed loudly, drawing his attention. "You just had to challenge her," she complained. _Wait, what?_ Gage scowled and looked back at Yang's expression, understanding dawning on him and his frown gaining a touch of worry. _Here I was telling myself not to talk, and instead I do just that in full. I've sallied forth with all my troops, and as it turns out, she's far more eager for a 'fight' than I am. Wonderful..._

"Oh, I don't know about that~ _Mysterious-Lee_ enough you knew how to grab a girls attention and keep her _Engaged_!" Yang smirked victoriously, obviously very proud of the way she had not only translated the narrative of their meeting, but worked in two puns with his name... _What the heck._

"I know what you're trying to imply there, and you and I both know _nothing_ of the sort happened," he drawled out slowly, narrowing his eyes to get his point across. Internally he felt like slapping himself for responding again, but he was already invested and didn't want to just be toyed around with like this again.

"I don't know about that! You were sweating an awful lot when you left," Yang chuckled, unaffected by his eyes.

"Yes, because I was exercising? Y'know?" Gage responded incredulously, his expression disbelieving. _Is she really doing this now?_

"Sure... Exercise~" Yang waggled her eyebrows before she started laughing outright at his expression. She managed to stifle them briefly so she could continue, "D-Don't forget, I even gave you my number! You know what _that_ means!"

 _Wow. Woooow._

"Wow." Gage just leaned back away from her as far as he could in her tight grip, his expression one of mock shock. "You must have a special part of your brain dedicated solely to taking things as far out of context as possible. It's the only possible explanation," he said in a dead tone, so far beyond annoyed and incredulous that he was nearly catatonic.

Yang seemed to only derive more entertainment from his suffering, given she was now doubled over with laughter, though the fact she had unhanded him was appreciated.

Ruby snorted as he stepped away from Yang cautiously, shaking her head and shrugging her arms in an easy-going manner totally at odds with her previously meek behavior. "Y'know, Yang. He's kinda right. Flirting and puns _do_ use most of your brainpower."

"Hey! I use my brain for plenty of other things too," Yang shouted indignantly.

Ruby grinned in a way that was eerily like Yang. "Sure, like hitting stuff and memorizing shampoo bottles."

"Heh. Yeah, and yours doesn't have room for more than weapons magazines and cookies." Yang shot back with a childish grin, yet somehow the remark got a rise out of Ruby.

The two quickly devolved into squabbling that Gage could barely keep up with, as they nitpicked one another for their quirks and bad habits. _What the heck. These sisters..._ Gage could definitely see the resemblance now. Despite their arguing they seemed to be incredibly close, even managing to have fun with their squabble.

As entertaining as it was to watch though, Gage wasn't particularly invested. If anything, he just felt extremely _tired_ now. With both of them focusing on their childish argument though, he realized now would be a good opportunity to slip away. Looking upwards, he was pleased to note that the airship to Beacon was approaching finally. A perfectly fine excuse to slip away while they're busy should Yang ask later, no? _Yes. Wait, no? Wait, no, yes. I mean- it's yes, definitely yes._

Gage eyed the two sisters once more, and with a small hint of regret that he swiftly punched in its metaphorical face (since his feelings of guilt had done a full reversal at some point) he made his decision. It wasn't like he disliked Yang or Ruby, really. But they made him uncomfortable with just how _friendly_ they were. Yang especially was tough to deal with.

 _Hm. Well, sorry ladies. Nice as both of you are, I'm not really looking to make any friends right now. Especially not with people as energetic as yourselves. I'll see you... some other time. Maybe._ Eyeing both of them to make sure they were still focused on their sibling squabble, Gage slowly sidled backwards, careful to not bump into anyone as he withdrew. Once he was far enough away that he could get away with it, Gage held his hand up to shoulder level and gave the tiniest, most flippant of waves with a lop-sided smirk.

 _This round goes to me. Xiao-Long, I'll see you when you come back for your rematch. I (don't) look forward to it._ Turning on his heel, Gage disappeared into the gathering crowd anticipating the airship, all while humming a small tune to himself.

If he was going to have to deal with her occasionally pestering him, he could at least have some fun with it and make a game out of it instead of letting himself get worn out and dragged along by her. Gage hated that part of himself, but he couldn't deny the usefulness of being able to draw some energy in a situation that normally would have drained him.

Far behind him, Yang had her sister Ruby locked in a headlock. "Agh! Yang, n-no noogies, you know yours hurt! I give, I give; you're way smarter than me! No bully! Plea-hea-heaaase!" With a proud huff, Yang released her whining sister who squawked and dropped like a sack. Yang crossed her arms under her chest, raising her nose high in the air and grinning with her eyes closed as she basked in her victory.

"Got that right, Rubes! Your big sis is a _complete_ package. Beauty, brawn _and_ brains! Right, Engage?" Yang turned and posed for him, half expecting a wise-crack from her quiet new friend. Instead, she was only met by silence, her mind drawing a dotted outline of where he should have been. "Huh?" she exclaimed, taken aback at his absence.

"Eh? Did he leave?" Ruby asked, swiveling her head back and forth in confusion. Her words caused Yang to put two and two together- his previous discomfort with being around her and his current absence meant that...

Yang's eyes flashed red. "That jerk!" She shouted, causing Ruby to recoil. Yang immediately set off to find Gage. She hadn't even pried out why he hadn't called her, and now this? Not cool!

"Ehh? W-Wait, Yang! You can't just leave Dad and me without saying goodbye!" Yang ground to a halt before she could even being on her manhunt in earnest. Scowling, Yang scoured the gathering crowd quickly, hoping she could find her target quickly enough to justify continuing. She could not, and heaved an annoyed sigh, letting her eyes close. When she turned around her eyes were back to their usual lilac and she wore a wan smile to placate Ruby.

"Alright, Rubes. Let's go find Dad, 'kay?"

… She wasn't going to admit defeat to Gage though. Nope! Just because he had outsmarted her and gotten away meant nothing! Yang would find Gage again and he'd pay doubly for evading her twice!

 _Sigh._ For now, she would say her goodbyes and look for her friends from Signal. She could track down Gage once they were on campus.

* * *

"Doing okay there Jaune?!" A loud, shrill voice called out to him from the orange-haired, turqoise-eyed girl behind him as she checked on him again. Jaune just groaned in pain, unable to manage anything better than that without risking unleashing a catastrophe. After all, he was currently draped over the rim of a trash bin, his face pointed down into its gullet.

 _Hate air sickness... so much...!_ If Jaune were ever given the chance to make a wish, it would definitely be to rid him of his air sickness. Or maybe his social awkwardness? Hm, no, Ren and Nora were proof Jaune could make friends despite that. Definitely his air sickness then, yeahhh. Only magic could cure a condition as painful as this, one that the Arc family was all but literally cursed to bear with.

Apparently though, Jaune was the only sibling this generation with the curse. He, the only boy among eight children. What were the odds? Yet another fine example of Jaune's terrible luck.

"Oh Jaune!" Nora said cheekily, "That's not a half bad sloth call, but you have to be louder than that!"

"I believe that was a no, Nora." Nora's green-clad, black-haired best friend corrected Nora for him. He was grateful the two of them were willing to hang around him, given that he was currently liable to lose the contents of his stomach at any moment. Other than them, everyone had vacated this area of the airship. Jaune was even more grateful that Ren and Nora had hurried him along to a trash bin rather than let him suffer in some dark corner of the ship until he made the poor choice to dash to find a trash bin when it was too late.

 _Ahhh... Since I met them, life's been nothing but up._ _Even if two of those "up's" are... Urp... Bad._

Jaune focused his mind on his thoughts. Hopefully he could distract himself from his bodies need to up-chuck and thoughts on how high up he was.

Meeting Ren and Nora- Nora and Ren? They were a package, so speaking of them like one person wasn't so weird. Maybe he should start calling them Renora... Uhh, anyways, meeting them had been a really lucky thing. Nora was energetic, cheerful and easy to get along with, and for all Ren's quietness his patience and understanding made him equally easy to get along with. They were also both much stronger fighters than Jaune was, and that was a fact.

When Jaune first made it into Torch- by the tiniest of margins!- he had tried to keep how weak he was a secret. He needed to catch up, but was afraid of how he would look for being so weak. Hadn't even had his Aura unlocked when he enrolled. He'd run off all on the off chance that the contents of the pamphlet he had noticed his mother throwing into the trash were legitimate. Luckily Torch was the real deal, and the school had taught him from the ground up. Jaune hardly cared that it was the least prestigious school in the kingdom of Vale, it had set him on the course to qualify into Beacon without making a very, _very_ big mistake along the way.

It took an entire year for him to get where he was now, filled with constant reminders of how far behind Jaune was. It hardly took any time for everyone to figure it out. Eventually though, he realized that if he wanted to keep growing, he would have to be totally honest about how weak he was now. It was humiliating, but necessary.

So when he met his two new friends, he had been completely honest up-front that he wasn't confident how he would do on the cooperative exam. Somehow though, they had hit it off and became fast friends and Nora had quickly ran off to find someone else for Ren to partner with while Nora all but dragged Jaune through the last exam as his partner.

Jaune was, really, _really_ grateful for that. But now that he was on his way to Beacon and gotten to know both of them better by hanging out with them around Vale the last two weeks, he knew that there was only one way to show his appreciation to the two- and no, it wasn't making Nora _more_ pancakes and taking over Ren's usual watch duties!

Nora always insisted they weren't "together-together." But Jaune knew better than to believe Nora meant that. You didn't grow up having seven sisters and _not_ learn to see the signs of a teenage girl desperately trying to stay friends with a guy she's actively crushing on. _You can't fool me, Nora! I have a working pair of eyes!_

And so, Jaune had decided that the best way to repay the two would be to find his own partner. That way, Ren and Nora could be partners. Nora had done it for Ren during the exam, so it couldn't be too hard to find somebody for himself if he tried, right?

 _Right?_

That was step one of the plan anyhow! Step two was to land on the same team with them. How Jaune would accomplish this step he currently did not know, but he could think about that later. Step three was getting them together-together. Jaune didn't even have to explain the reasons why to himself. It was _obvious_ they had a thing for each other, no matter how worn-out Ren half-pretended to be.

Half-pretended because Nora really was just that exhausting. He was pretty sure that the reason she was so exhausting was precisely because Ren had coddled her. _Ren... an enabler... Cannot compute._

 _Anywho! That's the plan, and I'm sticking with it. No doubt about it, this is foolproof and everything will work out spectacularly. Mmmmhm. Yup..._

"Ugggh..." Jaune moaned pitifully as his stomach informed him that it knew that _he_ knew he had run out of topics to think about. While he couldn't see them, he could tell Ren and Nora had both taken a step away from him.

 _T-Traitors...!_

* * *

Sometimes, it was difficult being a Schnee. Most would disagree, discounting her off-hand because of her family's immense wealth. But they didn't know. From an early age, her high-class life had been a constant social battle to show restraint and poise in public, all for no one else than her father. Every single social event he brought her to was a test of some kind for the Schnee heiress.

Being so recognizable, the looks and whispers directed her way when she went into public were just a fact of life for the Schnee Dust Company heiress. Although they annoyed her, there was no use in complaining about something so routine. Weiss usually preferred to ignore the gawkers. Such riff-raff simply were not worthy of her time.

Even when she wasn't recognized, Weiss was used to still getting special treatment. Be it in response to her regal bearing and social class, or when she introduced herself, Weiss was afforded a certain level of treatment. She had expected no different from the Hunters and Huntresses aspiring to attend Beacon like herself. The fact they kept their distance from herself and her personal luggage train let her know some of them recognized her. Doubtless, many were discussing what she was doing here, enrolled to enter Beacon Academy and not Atlas. Of course, none had the bravery or will to come speak with her, let alone even ask!

In reality, Weiss was being ignored by them because of how stand-offish she was. Let it never be said that Huntsman have poor instincts and can't tell when they are being looked down upon.

With nothing better to do, Weiss instead focused her attention away from the crowd, to the only other thing of interest on the airship; the beautiful view of Beacon Academy. The windows on the ship were wide and granted an excellent view of the approaching school. Most everyone on the flight was pressed up as close to the windows as they could get, occupied with the view like Weiss was.

Beacon's colorful grounds and almost fairy-tale appearance were certainly interesting to the heiress, but nothing special either. The opulence was lost on her since it was normal to her, and she was not personally attached to the school itself like other sentimental students who were nearly on the verge of tears for having made it there. Becoming a Huntress for Weiss had always been a personal matter, a way to achieve her independence and become strong enough to protect herself.

Objectively, Beacon was the ideal school of choice for her. Factually, it had been her fathers final demand in order for her to be allowed to attend a Huntsman Academy. If she enrolled in Atlas Academy, she would have gone the path of Winter and ended up in the military one way or another. Following in her sisters footsteps wouldn't have bothered Weiss personally, but her father was so against the possibility of repeating such an incident he was willing to let Weiss out of his reach in order to ensure she didn't find a temporary career with the military.

Beacon was where Weiss would call her home for four years now, where she was to be (relatively) free of her father's clutches and the exhausting eye of Atlas's high-society. A place she could stretch her wings. Although she was doing her best to control her emotions, it was difficult with how nervous and anxious she was. But Weiss was nothing if not capable of regulating herself.

Looking away from Beacon's grounds briefly, Weiss looked over the crowd of students now that they were all distracted. Better to familiarize herself with their faces while she could and identify anyone worthy enough to approach about forming a team.

Pyrrha Nikos stood out immediately. With her iconic bronze armor and long red hair, she was absolutely unmistakable. What she was doing here instead of Haven Academy, Weiss had no idea, but she could leave finding that out for after she had become the girls partner. She absolutely would not let a partner as covetable as her and equally as competitive and intelligent as Weiss out of her sights. The girl would surely realize the benefits of being partners with Weiss once she found the right opportunity to present her pitch to her.

Everyone else who stood out did so because they were either that loud or notably quiet. In a corner by herself stood a girl with black hair and an equally black bow quietly reading a book, unconcerned with both the view and her fellow passengers. The poise with which she held herself spoke well of her. Weiss decided that she must have been as equally intellectual and in-control as herself. Having a kindred spirit on her team couldn't go wrong, so she placed highly in Weiss's mind. Even if her bow seemed a tad silly as an accessory.

Elsewhere, a girl with long, bright blonde hair was laughing and speaking with a group of students. She stood out among them, practically carrying the conversation by herself. While she was showy and unrefined in a way Weiss could not tolerate, the confidence she held herself with meant she was either extremely overconfident, or all her confidence was the real deal. She was a gamble, but she could pay off... So long as Weiss could get her to tone down her behavior.

Standing apart from everyone else, if only because their third companion was draped unceremoniously over a trash bin, was a girl wearing bright pink and many more colors and her much milder, green-clad friend. The girl absolutely _screamed_ excitement and energy. Quite literally, in fact. This was a stark contrast to her (standing) male companion, who despite his passivity, almost immediately made eye contact with Weiss when she looked his way. If nothing else, the boy was worth keeping an eye on if he was that attentive. But the fact that he was so close with that girl... Weiss would have to be careful about approaching them. They looked to be an item, after all.

Weiss carefully ignored the boy trying desperately not to vomit.

The last person to draw her interest was quiet, but it wasn't this behavior that caught her notice. No, for some reason, he was trying to stay hidden behind her luggage train. _Who even does that kind of thing?!_ Her luggage wasn't even stacked higher than her legs, yet he persisted in remaining behind it and leaning back against the wall. Weiss delivered a scathing glare his way, hoping that it might finally scare him off. And while he gave her his attention for a moment, that was it. She scoffed and kept staring.

With dark blonde hair, a green jacket, tie and a white button-up shirt tucked into off-white slacks, he was rather... bland for a Huntsman. His demeanor was anything but bland though, the way he simply ignored her. He practically seemed annoyed, even, and not only with her.

 _Just who does he think he is?! I'm the one who should be annoyed here! How does he not recognize who I am?_

Ugh. She would just have to deal with this the direct way. Whoever he was, Weiss would put him in his place.

After the airship had docked of course. It wouldn't do for Weiss to behave that way so publicly.

She would not have to wait long however, the ship was already orienting itself with Beacon's cliff-side dock, students gathered up to the doors and waiting with anticipation. Another few moments and the doors had opened, students pouring out onto the pathway to Beacon as soon as they could. First went the sickly boy of the trio she had seen before, running and falling onto the grass outside in a thoroughly undignified fashion. The pack of friends along with the blonde-haired girl rushed out next, eager to see Beacon for themselves they rushed on ahead of most of the mass of students.

Once the majority of the students had stepped out, Weiss went out with her butlers silently pulling her cargo train after them. She glanced back with narrowed eyes, noting that only the target of her ire and the girl with the black bow remained aboard. _Good, the better with which to intercept him._

Weiss walked the path towards Beacon at a slow pace, in order to catch her target when he was about to pass. As it turned out, he walked quickly and made to pass Weiss well before she was expecting, but she was not one to be taken off guard so easily. She gave a simple gesture to the butlers to let them know to wait there and quickly followed her target with narrowed eyes.

"Excuse me!" Weiss called for his attention. He took two more steps before abruptly stopping, blinking, and facing her. Weiss tapped her foot impatiently, hands on her hips while she scrutinized him.

He just looked back, a hint of apprehension. His response belied as much however, "You are excused," he finally responded with a flat tone. Weiss gaped a moment before glowering at him.

"You think this is funny? You- you- you had the gall to cower behind my luggage without so much as acknowledging my presence or explaining yourself! And now you dare mock me for confronting you? Do you know who you are speaking to?!" She sputtered angrily.

The boy creased his eyebrows for a few moments with slightly parted lips, like he was about to respond with the first thought on his mind. The expression flitted away after another moment and he slowly adopted a thoughtful pose, head tilted and one of his hands grasping at his chin.

"A fellow Huntsman-in-training, I would imagine," he said in an airy tone. The mocking bent to his words was not missed by Weiss.

"Of course I am, you dolt! That wasn't what I was asking!" She huffed, considering how to rephrase her question so it wouldn't be sidestepped by the annoying boy, but he spoke up before she could continue.

"Oh? Well that was the only point of relevance I could think of for why I ought to be interested in you. And we _were_ on an airship for Huntsman-in-training, so you will have to excuse me for not knowing you personally," he said in feigned respectfulness before leaning closer, narrowing his mild green eyes. "It isn't as though there's anything about you that truly sets you apart from our peers after all." His tone was vindictive, enough to set Weiss on edge, but only for a moment. He clearly knew who she was, so that made her all the more incensed with his behavior and words now.

"Excuse me? As you _clearly_ know, _I_ happen to be the Schnee Dust Company heiress, Weiss Schnee. That alone makes me stand out from 'our peers'." Weiss air-quoted his words, giving him a look that expressed how daft she found his logic. Being the heiress of the SDC meant she stood out _because_ of her reputation and access to resources-

"Irrelevant," the boy snapped with clear disdain, leaning his head back and looking down upon her tiredly. Weiss felt her blood boil.

"I-Irrelevant? How _dare_ you! Who do you think you are? Talking down to me so rudely! I've worked incredibly hard to get here-!"

"Yes!" he shouted, interrupting her and throwing his arms wide, stepping around Weiss to put his back to Beacon to profile himself, he gestured at the school behind him. "Yes. You. Have. Just like everyone else who has come here to become a licensed Huntsman! Excuse me for my _nitpicking,_ but in all honesty everyone who made it here did so because of their hard work or the motivation to improve. Those traits are not unique to you, Miss Schnee. They are, if anything, the expectation! The only unusual things about you... is that you have access to an abundance of lien- which you will doubtless spend on Dust because I find that bribing the Grimm is woefully ineffective- and you happen to have a defined Semblance because of your strong familial ties. And yet, an abundance of resources and a familial Semblance are in no way unique to you," he finished on a condescending note, dropping his arms to his side and tilting his head downwards, his brow creased as he awaited her rebuttal.

Weiss continued to scowl at him, huffing and taking a moment to understand what he had said. He was... technically not wrong. Normally, she was not the petty type, but she was still absolutely livid though. She took control of her emotions, her next words frigid in their tone, "Technically, you yourself acknowledged that resources and status are both unusual traits in themselves, and that _is_ a point of relevance that makes me stand out." She smiled in a patently false way, and the sneer on his face from her manipulating his words was satisfying even if Weiss normally hated playing these types of games.

Scoffing, he looked aside. "Like I said, those still aren't wholly unique traits. As it happens, there is at least one more student enrolling this year who specializes in Dust usage and possesses a unique familial Semblances that facilitates it. Just like you."

Weiss frowned at that, his words grabbing her curiosity. The way he said it and how he was crossing his arms made her suspect for a moment he was talking about...

But no, she would not be baited by him. She had already dealt with more than enough of his insufferable attitude, and gotten one up on him already. Whatever grudge he had against her, Weiss would not feed it further. Raising her nose and scoffing at him, she turned on her heel and walked away, not sparing him any further attention. She was here to succeed, not argue with envious students.

* * *

Watching the white-haired girl depart, Gage heaved a great sigh, letting his annoyance go and feeling the post-argument exhaustion hit his body. "Great work, Enfield. Really. Making enemies out of as many top-class students as possible will be a great way to survive your new life as a hunter, really." Sighing once more, he rubbed a hand over his forehead before shifting it into his hair and gripping it in frustration.

Why. Did. He. Have to antagonize her?! He could just have kept his mouth shut, apologized, and been on his way. All he had intended was to stand as far away from Yang as possible, and look where that had gotten him! Being on Weiss Schnee's good side wasn't exactly a goal of his, but getting on yet another students bad side was definitely on his "don't do this (again)" list.

An important lesson Gage had learned in his singular year at Torch was that Hunters and Huntresses were preternaturally willing to hold a grudge. Even the meekest of them were willful. And Gage had just picked a fight with arguably one of the most willful students of this year. Just, wonderful...

Gage was broken from his dismal thoughts when a pair of footsteps stopped near him. Tiredly, he let go of his hair and glanced in their direction, just to be met with familiar amber eyes on an expressionless face. "Blake," he said, dimly realizing she had intentionally let her footsteps be heard.

Blake glanced away from him a moment over to the path Weiss had stalked away before looking at him. Her expression didn't change, but there was a hint of amusement and vindication in her eyes, "Nice speech. You made an interesting point, but you let her get in your head at the end."

His eye twitched slightly. _Wow, we haven't spoken in two weeks and this is how our first meeting goes?_

Gage stared at her a moment, and Blake stared right back, though with some boredom. _Hm, something seems differe- oh right, she's wearing different... clothes..._ Gage gawked a moment when the thought clicked. _O-kay, that's pretty form-fitting stuff, Blake..._ He made sure not to give voice to the thought and quickly looked back up.

"I was just saying what I honestly felt," Gage said, finally responding to her. "It wasn't my intention to make some point though, even though that's what I ended up doing." He pursed his lips and glanced aside. "It probably wasn't a smart idea to make enemies with Weiss Schnee of all people either."

Giving another of those inscrutable looks, Blake hummed in consideration. "The Schnee's are good at making enemies, you'll be fine if you avoid her from now on. You're probably the least of her concerns, anyhow."

Gage crossed his arms and looked away. "Hopefully."

Blake gave the faintest hint of a smile. "We should get moving. Don't want to sleep through the opening ceremony." Her attention returned to her book and Blake walked away, leaving Gage staring after her a few moments. He grumbled and lumbered after her, though he carefully avoided catching up. They were cordial, and Gage was grateful for that, but he wouldn't presume they were friends.

Better that than another enemy, though. _Welcome to Beacon..._

* * *

 **A/N:** Haha! Oh, Gage! You rapscallion! Making enemies your very first day at Beacon! When will you learn to actually be chill in social situations?

Also, the obvious high point of the chapter- a scene "starring" Jaune! ... That strange, sad little man... But seriously, this was when I was anticipating giving him a scene, both showing how he managed to connect with two people he has a natural inclination to befriend, as well as explaining how dafuk he passed Torch's exams. The short answer? Nora carried him, Jaune shouted commands occasionally, and Ren was ditched to work with some random pub-goer. Yep.

So we're getting closer and closer to having more than just two or three characters interacting on-screen at the same time, and also a substantial boost in spoken dialogue over just mental self-talk. This chapter took way more work than I was expecting. I blame that on Yang. She's so much harder for me to characterize than Weiss. Seriously, Weiss comes freakishly easy for me to write by comparison... I'm very, very concerned what that says about me.

Anyhow, as you might note, I have tried very carefully to allow characters to be where they logically would be, but with the absence of Ruby this changes up the dynamics and conversations significantly. So too with Jaune having gone to Torch. Ruby's absence is in no way because I hate her, mind. If anything it is actually a point in her favor. Much as the girl runs off on her own, she also brings her team together very well. Her absence has a real impact on team dynamics.

I really wanted a scene with Gage berating Weiss for mishandling Dust, but it just was not in the cards. Oh, but I will make it happen sometime down the line. Those two are going to piss each other off sooo much!

Since we are getting closer to the formation of teams, I would just like to say that I have thought about as much very deeply and to not worry. For anyone who is groaning and expecting Gage to become a team leader- never you fret! No such thing will happen. That's as much as I am willing to spoil on the matter though.

Next time: Tune in for more of Gage's sensible yet warped logic, a game of cat and mouse, and Gage running from his enemies, giving them the chance to conspire against him. Oh yes, Gage, your suffering has only just begun. _Aaahahaha... Ahahahaha!_

Til next time folks, thanks for reading.


	7. V 01 Chapter 07

Started writing, 09/05/2018

Last edit, 09/19/2018

I in no way own RWBY nor am I affiliated with RoosterTeeth. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for the fun of it, and which I derive no monetary gains from.

Chapter partially beta'd by Myst Eternally

* * *

Volume 01, Chapter 07.

Tropical Yang Storm

* * *

"Alright guys, it's been real but I'm heading out now. We'll Yang out later!" Yang told her collective group of Signal friends, hoisting her bag over a shoulder. While the topic of Yang partnering up with one of them had come up, mostly from the guys of course, Yang hadn't bit and by now everyone but her had found someone from their group to partner with. With seven of them, that meant someone would be left out. That was cool with her though, she preferred winging it. It was more fun to leave some things a surprise.

"Eh? Yang! Where are you going?" One of the girls asked and Yang looked back with a Cheshire grin.

"Oh, not very far. Just gonna go talk with a guy~" She shot a playful wink to the group.

The guys reacted instantaneously. Shock adorned one face, disappointment on another, and the one guy who actually _wasn't_ crushing on her dramatically fell to his knees like he'd been told his parents were dead. Yang couldn't control her laughter, and the other two teens shot the third a glare. She would have felt bad for them if it weren't so funny!

"Later!" Yang declared before setting off towards where she thought she'd spotted Gage inside the lavish amphitheater. The place was _huge,_ and with so much open space came great acoustics, turning the chattering in the hall into a veritable droning. Yang would've loved to see a live band play on the stage. Maybe there was a team composed of only musicians? That would be _awesome_!

 _Especially if they're a boy band._ Yang relished the idea. Unrealistic or not, a girl could dream!

Finding Gage turned out to be laughably easy. Just like Yang predicted, he was hanging around the back of the room all by himself. _Read ya like a book~_

Well, _mostly_ by himself. Yang paused in her stride for just a moment as she noted a black-and-white clad girl with amber eyes, black hair and an equally-black bow atop her head. The girl stood a scarce step away from Gage but was occupied with the book she held one-handed. Gage didn't pay her any heed, his eyes instead alternately observing the crowd of students or the walls of the amphitheater with curiosity. Neither of them spoke or made eye contact, but Yang could tell they were still standing _together_ rather than just nearby. Call her crazy all you want, she knew what she saw.

It helped that both of them had a bag respectively placed next to each other.

 _Okay sure, but who_ is _she?_ … Well, _obviously_ she was a friend of some sort. Probably not his girlfriend, but the idea would still make for good ammunition. Later. At the moment, Yang was prioritizing her frustration over how he was hanging out with a friend he had made so recently, if the fact they weren't hanging out earlier was any evidence. Well, not that Yang had any proof of that, but still...

 _What gives, Engage?_ Scowling, she huffed in irritation but quickly pushed it aside. _Focus, girl!_ Yang had a mission, and hangups like these were only going to get in the way of her goal of figuring out the green Dust mage. Yang wasn't great at it but she could still put her anger aside when needed. Temporarily, anyways. Her plan? Spend as much time with Gage as possible, not make a show of getting angry at him and hopefully he would open up to her in the end. The time on the airship had helped her cool off and come up with a better plan than "hit him for being a jerk and ditching me." Satisfying as that would have been.

"Helloooo~!" Yang sing-songed enthusiastically, waving as she approached the pair. The black-haired girl gave her one glance before returning to her book, but Gage turned a confused look her way like someone had jerked him straight out of his thoughts, heh.

"Yang... hello. I see you managed to make it on board the airship in time." The faint smile he wore after saying as much almost made Yang choke as she was thrown for a loop. _Normally, you're not supposed to have fun sticking your foot in your own mouth!_

"Yeah... in no small part thanks to you." She rebuked quizzically.

"Sorry, it's just that you and your sister looked like you were having fun and I didn't want to interrupt."

Yang frowned, scrutinizing his expression to look for any falsehood. She was pretty sure he had meant what he said? But it still felt like he wasn't being totally honest! _Ugh, whatever._

"Uh, yeah, sure." Yang said, waving off the... thoughtful gesture awkwardly. Putting down her bag, she quickly shifted gears to excitement as she turned to Gage's friend. "So! Who's your girlfriend here?"

The black-themed girl visibly scowled at Yang's attention. Grinning, Yang just gave her a tiny, flirtatious wave.

"Don't mind her," Gage intervened, words directed at his friend. "Yang just has a special part of her brain dedicated to misunderstanding perfectly ordinary social situations. She might even be delusional now that I think about it." Gage mused aloud while rubbing his chin.

"Hey! Jerk," Yang cuffed his shoulder but kept grinning. The blow shouldn't have stung much but he still withdrew from her reach afterwards with a sour look.

"Right..." Mystery girl drawled before meeting eyes with Yang. "Blake. It's... nice to meet you, Yang." Blake's voice was controlled, almost annoyed really, and she was paying more attention to her book than Yang. Still, she would give the girl a fair chance. It helped that she had experience dealing with her sister occasionally burying her head in fantasy novels or a new weapon magazine. Thinking as much, Yang thrust her hand forward with an honest smile.

"Hey Blake, it's nice to meet ya! I really like your bow, it's cute." Blake shifted back warily, eyeing Yang's hand a few moments and bringing her book protectively to her chest. Waiting it out, Yang was ultimately rewarded as Blake came to a decision after some internal conflict, gingerly grasping Yang's hand and returning the blonde's much stronger grip.

"Uhm... thanks? Yang." Blake responded uncertainly, shifting on her feet awkwardly.

 _Aw, she's shy! Seems she likes books more than people too. Shoot, Ruby would have gotten along with her._

"Uh, so!" Yang started awkwardly but forged ahead with more confidence. "How did you two meet? Known each other long?" She asked hopefully, wanting to encourage some conversation. She did want to know more about him, but it also helped her goal of trying to figure out the puzzle the boy was presenting now.

Blake glanced at her book longingly, considering it a moment before lowering it with regret. "Well, we met at Torch academy during the alternative qualifying exam two weeks ago." Glancing at Gage a moment, the ghost of a smirk showed on her face. "He was sleeping outside, so I woke him so he wouldn't miss it."

"Come on, do you have to go mentioning that part?" Gage grumbled and rubbed at his forehead wearily.

 _Ooh, sassy too. She's not half bad. And she even knows how to provide grade-A teasing material!_

"Wait, wait. So he was napping _before_ the exam? That's hilarious!" Yang chuckled. A thought struck her, one which she readily indulged. "What were you doing staying up so late though, Engage? Could it have been that you were...?~ You know?" Yang asked suggestively, putting up a hand and making a ring with her index finger and thumb while making a jerking motion with her hand.

Blake scrunched her eyebrows in distaste when she caught on. "Ew."

Massaging his forehead more intently, Gage responded with exhaustion. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to, Yang."

"Wait, what?!" Yang jolted momentarily, surprised. A moment later she was leering at him triumphantly. "So I'm right!"

Gage dropped his hand to his side, stood up straight and stared at Yang with enough composure to give her pause. "Yes, Yang," he spoke in perfect deadpan. "I stayed up late, relieving pre-exam stress... by studying."

Blinking owlishly, Yang's response was a flat "what." A stifled chuckle came from beside them, but Yang ignored it, too busy staring the green mage down for clarification.

"Like I said, you wouldn't want the answer. I was studying. I mean, it's not exactly interesting." There was boredom in his tone, but the faintly amused expression he wore told Yang that he thought himself funny. Yang wasn't so inclined to agree though, having been made the butt of his joke.

Looking away with a disgruntled expression, Yang waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, right. Studying. I totally believe you."

"Hey, studying is a great form of stress relief. You should give it a try sometime. Instead of... You know." He stared at the blonde brawler, one eyebrow quirked questioningly.

 _Oh my gosh, this guy!_ Yang frowned with faint embarrassment, blushing just slightly and completely thrown for a loop. None of this was normal for her. While plenty of guys had tried to keep up with her teasing, or even tried to outdo her, it was always either because they wanted to get on her good side or impress her. Yang was well-versed in one-upping them. But this type of calculated wit? Completely foreign to her. And from a guy she had been teasing before so easily too... What was going on?

"I don't- you-" Yang sputtered, trying and failing to come up with a proper response.

Before Yang could work one out, Blake interrupted her, a distraction Yang was happy to take. "As much fun as I'm sure you two are having flirting..." She gestured to the stage, drawing their attention to it.

At some point two figures had made their way onto the stage, although they hadn't started speaking to the crowd yet. Ones was a lackadaisical older man wearing various shades of dark green and leaning on a cane. The other was Glynda Goodwitch, the huntress every student had seen on the holoscreen displays during the airship ride. Her strict and controlled demeanor contrasted with the casual behavior of the man she conversed with. _That's the headmaster actually, isn't it? Guess they'll be starting soon. … Wait-_

"We weren't flirting!" Yang said firmly. Normally she would have been fine with the idea, even used it to further tease her target. But when the guy was getting the better of her? Nope!

"We weren't? Huh. Here I was trying to practice." Gage looked down with almost-believable disappointment.

The dam of incredulity and annoyance that had been building within the brawler for the past few minutes finally cracked, giving way to something else entirely. What started out as a single snicker quickly developed into full-on giggling and Yang doubled over, her hands tight around her midriff as she tried to restrain her mirth. It wasn't full-belly, raucous laughter but instead a mix of giggling, snorting, and Yang occasionally repeating the word 'practice' to herself, renewing her giggle fit.

If anyone ever bothered to ask her why she found this so funny, Yang would be hard-pressed to explain it in a way that actually made sense to anyone but herself.

So preoccupied with her amusement was she that Yang failed to notice the grumpy expression Gage was making now. He grumbled inwardly, facing away from Yang with arms crossed and lips pursed in consternation. _Well that didn't work. Gee, wonder why? Oh, right. You got caught up with messing with her head so much you forgot, again, that confronting her just makes her stronger._ Gage slumped, resigning himself to Yang's continued presence. _Just wonderful._

Blake for her part was bemused. Eyeing the exasperated green and entertained yellow themed teens respectively, she understood there was some sort of subtle social game going on between them. As for why that was, she only had a vague guess. But it reminded her of the encounter she had with Gage. She frowned slightly at the thought, still slightly miffed with her behavior then.

Truthfully, she had gotten tunnel-visioned when he told her she'd have to find a partner for the exam. Blake would have given anyone a chance, sure. She was trying to turn over a new leaf after all. But the uncertainty of being partnered with a total stranger had unnerved her enough to focus on the first person available, both because she knew him (barely) and her stubborn nature kicked in. Not exactly her best moment.

 _I'll let them work whatever out between themselves,_ she decided. It was only with the help of Gage's cousin, Iris, that Blake had made any kind of connection with Gage in the first place. Yang didn't seem to share Blake's hangup with socializing though. She was, in plain terms, bold. The blonde girl would be fine on her own, hopefully.

Blake happily ignored the fact that all of this was just a convenient reason for something she wouldn't have done in the first place. She didn't want to interfere to begin with. If she did, then it would become like that romance novel Gage had loaned her. _Ugh. So weird, now I'll have to try to pass for an ordinary teenage huntress._ Blake wasn't looking forward to that.

She kept watching them with curiosity as Yang recovered and returned to her boisterous self and Gage lost much of his previous wit and control of the conversation.

 _She certainly is loud... and not particularly funny. Unfunny as she is though, she's oddly fun. Hm. She might make for another decent option for a partner, if she happens to be a half-way decent person. She seems honest, ascertaining if she's not racist should be easy if I stick around her._ Blake would give most anyone a chance, of course, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She didn't want to end up on a team with _Weiss Schnee_ of all people after all.

* * *

Unrecognized by the disparate trio, a number of observers watching them. Most were just curious, especially about the bodacious blonde and mysterious black themed teens in particular, but their curiosity stopped there. It was just the nature of people to not pay overt attention to a situation that they had no personal stake in. Their curiosity was brief, and their minds quickly wandered to new distractions.

Some though, in the stereotypical fashion of young men with a fixation on pretty women, were glaring at Gage just for talking with Blake and Yang. Most of those were from Signal or Torch, and were still miffed with Yang rejecting their requests for dates or laughed at their pickup lines. The other group had experienced Gage's biting words in the past and were not fond of him to begin with, but seeing him conversing with with two pretty women magnified their ire that usually went unused.

The most unusual observer though was none other than the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee.

She found it infuriating that Gage was conversing with _two_ of the potential teammates she had been scouting! The worst part of it was that Weiss had no idea when they had gotten on speaking terms with him. She had so much hope for them too, but if they were friends with _whatever his name is,_ that would make it harder to get them on Weiss's side. She honestly hoped that he was actually the one bothering them, but what she saw told her that while the conversation was stilted, it was still cordial.

 _Ugh. Fine then! The black-haired one doesn't seem to be into it at least. I'll just have to take the chance to talk with her later... Surely she'll appreciate getting to speak with a fellow intellectual, and not some... Crass, rude oaf who wants to marginalize others status and accolades._ Admittedly, Weiss wanted to go and confront him now. It would be vindicating to take him down a peg. But she was wise enough to know now was neither the time nor place to chew him out when she had no ground to stand on.

So fixated on her own thoughts was she that Weiss, like another link in a daisy chain, remained unaware of the attention directed her way by a certain tall, scraggly blonde.

When he had first spotted her, Jaune was immediately caught with how beautiful and seemingly perfect she was. Surely, no one was really that perfect though? No, she obviously had flaws. The angry glare she was directing out into the crowd and the scar over her right eye stood out. But, that was patently bizarre. She had the beauty and visage of an angel, but was absolutely real.

Jaune didn't really believe in the idea of love-at-first-sight. What he felt now certainly wasn't it. But it did feel like the start of a crush, or at least interest. He had never had a girlfriend despite wanting one, but then it was kind of hard to start a relationship when you're spending so much time helping your seven sisters out with their own romantic problems huh? Each of them occupied a significant portion of Jaune's time, enough that he never found the time to form any close relationships with any of the girls around his age where he had grown up. Not that there were many to begin with, a result of living in a small town where his family made up a bizarrely large proportion of the town.

Anywho, having so many sisters and seeing them at their worst and most slovenly and demanding had put something of a damper on Jaune for ordinary girls. As dorky and easily embarrassed as he was, he also had a pretty high resistance to being around women to begin with. Because of that, unlike the rest of the guys his age, he wasn't kissing the ground that even the prettiest of the huntresses at Beacon walked upon. And boy, there were quite a few of them...

 _What was I thinking about again? Oh, right! Her. Snow Angel._

Jaune wasn't completely enamored with her, but she was eye-drawing and his attention kept returning to her despite himself. He wanted to know just how different she was from girls like his sisters and the usual rough-and-tumble huntresses. His personal experience told him that even the ones from the city could still be rough around the edges.

"Jaaaune? Remnant to Jaune! Anyone out there?" Nora called out from behind him, knocking on his head for effect. Startled, Jaune jolted aside and took a defensive pose. It was a silly thing, and Nora obliged it with a snicker.

"Er." Jaune slowly blushed, scratching the back of his head out of habit. "Sorry guys, got distracted for a second there. What's up?" Jaune asked with a haphazard smile, trying his best to focus on his two friends and clear away the mental cobwebs.

"Nora was asking if you were going to talk to her." Ren explained, his eyes briefly traveling over to Jaune before once more scanning the crowd. There was no real need for it of course, but old habits died hard for the cautious teen.

Jaune gaped, making an assortment of noises that could loosely be called words. "N-Nora!" he finally sputtered, looking at her askance.

"What? It's obvious you've got a crush, buddy pal!" She responded cheerfully.

"I-I don't even know her!" Jaune said with distress. He knew that any effort trying to convince her he wasn't interested in her wouldn't work. Nora may not have acknowledged her feelings for Ren, but she was still scary insightful. Nor was Jaune good at keeping a secret, so there was no point in trying to say otherwise.

" _For now,"_ Nora chuckled evilly, unsettling Jaune and Ren- though the former far more than the latter. Ren simply didn't want to have to deal with the fallout of whatever Nora was considering.

"Nora, please don't do anything drastic to jeopardize Jaune's love life before it even exists." Ren said flatly.

"Okaaay. But only since you asked Renny!" Nora chirped happily.

Jaune sighed, eager to put the sudden topic aside. He looked back to the Snow Angel curiously nevertheless. She hadn't yet shifted from her angry scowl, and Jaune was starting to get curious about what had her so annoyed. Carefully tracing her gaze to its destination, Jaune found himself staring at an unfamiliar pair of girls who were conversing with a young man Jaune did recognize.

 _Enfield._ Jaune knit his brows. He didn't hate the green mage, but... Well. Jaune couldn't help but be wary of him, since they were basically unspoken rivals back at Torch. And not in the friendly kind of way. Jaune had tried to befriend him, sure. His mother had drilled it into his head that most strangers were just friends waiting to happen. Not so with Enfield though, who had simply told him "no" at every attempt, or gone off on a rant about why Jaune was better off finding someone else to be a friend...

 _I mean jeez, dude. I know I can be pretty insecure about myself too, but lighten up a little why don't ya? It's just friendship. Not a matter of life or death._

As Jaune watched Gage while mulling over his opinion of the mage, the guy in question passively conversed with the unfamiliar black and yellow pair. They were extremely pretty, Jaune noted. Slowly, his eyes drifted back to the angel in the amphitheater. A thought dawned on him, sudden and foreboding. _No... Wait... It can't be. Again?_

"Whaaat? It's way too soon for him to be picking girls up already!" Jaune squawked aloud, surprising Nora and garnering a raised brow from Ren.

"What the heck are you talking about, Jaune? 'Too soon for picking up girls?'" Nora asked, leaning in close to Jaune. His eyes were wide with disbelief and frustration, worrying her slightly.

Ren looked over to see what Jaune was staring at, only finding Gage conversing with Blake and a second girl. Nothing about the trio of teens stood out to the green ninja.

"He's... Enfield's already making a move..."

"Move? Enfield?" Nora repeated in confusion, looking the same way Jaune and Ren were. "Oh hey Gage~! Hey Blake~!" Nora shouted, jumping and waving at the two. The two in question paused in their conversation and returned her wave, the former with confusion of his own and the latter with mild indifference. To Nora's happiness, the blonde girl also waved, and with much more enthusiasm too.

The orange-haired bombers behavior quickly brought Jaune back to Remnant.. He looked once more at Gage, who was looking at Jaune now. Both mage and knight narrowed their eyes in mutual distrust at the same time, and a silent war was waged between them for a few moments before simultaneously breaking eye contact. _Grr... Still up to your same old routine, huh Enfield?_

Jaune definitely was not the type to hold a grudge, nuhuh. But the relationship he shared with Gage was complex despite how little the two spoke, and much to his personal frustration, a sense of envy for the boy had slowly festered over time. He didn't like it, but didn't know how to resolve it when the mage in question was so quick to shut down a conversation.

Ren didn't fail to notice their interaction. "Jaune?"

"Yeah?" He responded immediately, wincing when he realized he had answered too quickly. Ren homed in on that fact easily.

"Is something wrong?" He said with his eyes narrowing in concern and a brief look turned Gage's way.

"Er... yeah, kinda." Jaune said flatly, as honest as he could manage. Even this much was a huge departure from how he would have answered a year prior. Back then, any concern the boy had he would internalize, driving himself ragged with worry while never really solving the issue. Even if it was out of necessity, Jaune was glad he had at least made some progress on being more upfront about his worries. Not that it was perfect, but now he could at least blunder his way towards success gradually instead of just roadblocking himself.

Ren waited patiently, glancing at Nora and nudging his head towards the blonde as he looked down pensively. She picked up on his cue easily.

"So Jaune. What's up?" She asked softly, her gentle smile reminding him of his mother's.

"Oh!" Jaune raised his head to look directly at his friends. "Er, well. It'll sound stupid, it's just..."

"It's fine. We're all teenagers here," Ren answered with what could pass for levity on the stoic ninja's part. Not having expected the joke at all, Jaune let out a loud bark of a laugh. It was amusement he had needed though and he found himself grinning at his two friends. He really couldn't ask for better friends than them.

"Thanks, guys. See, I'm kind of annoyed. Uhh, so, Enfiel- sorry, Gage. He has a track record of..." Jaune waved his hands around for a moment, "Being rude to people. The weird thing is, it usually makes them pester him more. Aaaand... Based on how there are currently three girls attention on him right now? Yeah, I think that's kind of happening again."

Nora and Ren both blinked, one with a quizzical smile and the other listening but skeptical.

"Look, what I'm trying to say, is that it's weird that he can get so many women's attention despite acting like he doesn't like it."

Nora tilted her head at that, her expression halfway between amusement and confusion. "Wait, so you're saying he plays hard to get and you're annoyed that it works?"

"Yes! That! Exactly," Jaune gesticulated with his hands, grateful his friends understood.

Placing a hand upon his chin and cradling that arms elbow with his other hand, Ren looked over to the group they were discussing. Rolling Jaune's words over in his mind, he tried to imagine Gage intentionally attracting women by ticking them off. It... didn't match up with the exasperation on the similarly-colored mage.

"It doesn't seem like he's doing it intentionally," Ren remarked softly.

"Oh Jaune, you're being silly! Just because they want to be together as friends with him doesn't mean they want to be together-together." Nora added in with casual glee.

"Nora's right, and Gage doesn't strike me as the type to string women on either."

Jaune grumbled something incoherent in response. He wouldn't argue the matter further since Nora was right about him being jealous. But he knew the pattern! He had seen it!

While they were still normal teenager's in a way, huntress's were far more outspoken than was actually normal. Jaune had perfect proof of this. Even his sister's, demanding as they were, had never been as outspoken as any of the huntress's he had dealt with in a year's time.

Enfield... He had found the secret technique to get their interest though, and like the schemer he was, he continued to exploit it ruthlessly. The mage had absolutely no scruples, Jaune was certain. Otherwise, why would he continue to behave like he didn't want their attention when it clearly didn't work? Enfield was a smart guy. He wouldn't just continue using a method that didn't work. Therefore, he was doing exactly what he intended to!

 _You can try to fool those girls all you like, Enfield. But I know your ways!_

Jaune paused, briefly realizing he was getting a bit overzealous about this. Still. Whatever Enfield was up to, he would have to keep an eye out for.

* * *

"So Engage! Blake! Got any siblings? You already met her before Engage, but I have a little sister. Her name's Ruby, and she's so _cute!_ "

 _Please kill me now_ , Gage cried out in his mind.

"Yes, Yang, I have siblings..." He groused out. He was... uncomfortable. Talking with Yang was a non-stop experience, and harrowing too. Looking at her was... dangerous. Her enthusiasm and cheer were exhausting. And counter-attacking her? Woefully ineffective. Weathering Hurricane Yang was his best hope so far, but thus far that had proven a losing battle.

Worse still, baleful glares were being directed at him from all over the amphitheater. The glares from Schnee, Arc and Winchester he could handle. They at least had reasons for disliking him. _Even if Winchester's are petty and because he can't win an argument. Eat a dick, Winchester._

But all the jealous guys? That was a pain in the ass and completely unwarranted.

To think, most of them wanted to be in his position. _For the sake of all male-kind, please stop. This isn't like your Mistrali comics where a single guy gets all the girls to himself. Besides, that would be rude and tantamount to hogging all the pancakes. Just because it sounds delicious doesn't negate the impending stomach ache._

Gage silently bemoaned Mistral's culture being especially fine with polygamy. It made sense that it would be widely accepted in a world where there were two men to every three women and travel between communities was not a simple matter. But even still, his sense of fairness screamed that it was ridiculous to have more than one partner.

"Not really," Blake chimed in with her answer, and Gage was glad to be drawn out of his stupid musing. What she said though was as inscrutable as ever. _Real helpful, Blake._

"Alright, Engage, your turn then- how many? What are they like?" Yang continued her questions with interest, a smile on her face and one hand curling hair around her finger tips. She really, really liked touching her own hair, he realized. Gage prematurely punched that part of his mind that would have wondered how soft it must have felt. _That's just creepy, me. Ugh, how many people must have gone up to her and touched it without permission? Well, their funeral._

"Two. They're normal? I guess." Gage answered with vague annoyance.

"Normal? What's that supposed to mean? C'mon guy, details!" Yang said, slapping his shoulder to noticeable effect.

"Fine... One's my younger sister. She's, uh, she's nice. Shy. My older brother, he's an aspiring politician. Real generous, level-headed." _Traits I lack,_ he reminded himself mentally.

"That's cool. They must be proud of you for becoming a hunter, huh? I know when Ruby first learned I was gonna start training to be a huntress she wanted to join me straight away, but dad wouldn't let her! She bawled her eyes out until I played a game with her so she could think she was training too. That's why I call her my Rubaby." Yang chuckled, smiling ever more brightly.

"... Right," Gage murmured, looking away to avoid being blinded, choosing to not correct her misunderstanding about his siblings approving of his career choice.

The speakers in the amphitheater suddenly came to life, drawing every student away from their socializing and to the stage. Front and center was the headmaster of Beacon Academy, pressing his glasses up his nose and looking over the audience appraisingly as the room filled with first years went silent. Most of them were seeing the man for the first time, but still recognized who he was.

Before Ozpin spoke he cleared his throat and tested the microphones volume. Nodding once in satisfaction, he began speaking. "I'll... keep this brief."

 _No, please, take all the time you need. Really, I appreciate the break from Hurricane Yang._

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." The man paused briefly for effect, before dropping a verbal bomb on them. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of... purpose. Direction."

 _What in the...!_ Gage sputtered and threw a hand over his mouth, trying his best not to laugh. Whispers arose in the audience as Ozpin continued heedless of his audiences reaction.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. Do not let yourselves be complacent with the peace we have all grown inured to. There are still many battles to be fought. Take this time to grow and learn. It is up to you to take the first step. Only then can we truly guide you."

The whispers grew as Ozpin left the stage, his place at the microphone quickly replaced by Glynda Goodwitch caused the whispering to dim.

"You will gather to rest in the ballroom tonight. For now, campus is open to all exam entrants to explore. Maps and scheduled meal hours have been messaged to your personal Scrolls. If you require any more of your luggage, it is stored away safely in the second year classrooms. Request one of the staff on hand and provide proof of identity to retrieve your belongings. All weapons are expected to be stored away in your assigned weapons locker before you turn in to rest. Any and all locked doors are locked for a reason." Pausing a moment, Goodwitch looked over the crowd to make sure they all understood the gravity of her words. "That is all. Turn in early and be prepared for your trial tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."

With Glynda's departure, the whispering rose to full-pitched conversation. Gage, Yang and Blake all stood silently, each pondering Ozpin's speech.

"Ominous." Was the only comment Blake made as she mulled over his words. She had to agree however. Knowledge would only carry her so far. If she really aimed to be a huntress now, she would have to do more than just learn what it was to be one. Despite her indifference initially, she couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement though.

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "He seemed... off." Yang commented placidly. There was a small amount of turmoil in her mind at how some of his words felt like they were directed straight at her. Of course they weren't though, he was addressing every student... But Yang supposed that was what made him the headmaster. Even if he wasn't overbearing, his gaze was still strangely haunting.

Both girls were broke from their pondering when Gage began laughing. It was a rude, mocking sound, one at odds with his actual levity. They almost misunderstood his laughter as derisive in nature because of it.

"Th-That was great! He- he really knows how to surprise a crowd!" Each word Gage spoke was interspersed with laughter. "That's- that's how you draw in audience attention! Short, simple and sharp! Boy, I do not regret picking Beacon!" He said before resuming laughing by himself.

Both girls stared at Gage wide-eyed, neither expecting a reaction like this from the normally calm mage. They looked at each other briefly, Yang with upturned eyebrows. Blake shrugged silently at her. Frowning, Yang pushed Blake towards him, hoping to get her to solve the issue. Blake growled, but seeing Yang's uncertainty she decided against talking back.

Sighing, Blake shot the laughing teen a reproachful look. "Gage," she hissed.

That did its job, and he ceased his laughter with a single sharp intake of breath, holding it a few moments before exhaling. "Okay. I'm good now." He said, the remains of a grin on his face still. _I needed a good laugh. Thank you Ozpin, for being so unusual._

"Rrrright." Yang eyed him skeptically, but quickly changed track. "Sooo. What's the wait? Let's go explore our new school!" Grinning, she nabbed her backpack and both her new friends bags, handing them each to them despite their annoyance. Once that was done, she grabbed each of them by the wrist and pulled them along.

"Oi. It's not our school _yet._ It's not like we're guaranteed to get in just because we're here and all." Gage remarked at her, trying to keep step with her. _Jeez woman, we can walk by ourselves you know._

"Speak for yourself," Blake growled, trying to get her arm back from Yang but having a tough time of it with the girls strong grip, resigning herself to following her. She was already going to anyways.

Yang quirked a brow but let go of both their wrists as she was confident they would keep pace with her leading the way now. The three waded into the group of students exiting the amphitheater as one body, slowly being pulled through in the process.

"Not confident you'll get in, Engage?" Yang said conversationally over the din of students. "I've heard tell those exams you took at Torch are easy, but that actually passing 'em requires you impress somebody... Something tells me you belong here just as much as I do."

"Heh. Confidence is for people who actually know how to fight," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the din of students.

"Uhhh?"

"What he means to say is that he's a Dust mage," Blake helpfully supplied.

"Ooh!" Yang caught on, looking at him with new understanding, the pieces clicking together. There had only been a handful of Dust mages at Signal, and none of them had been in her year so she had never sparred with one either. "So you don't just use Dust, you're a Dust mage. Explains a lot about your lack of muscle I guess. Do you not train much?"

"Hey. Dust mages have to do plenty of training, I'll have you know. Just because my physical regimen doesn't hold a candle to either of yours doesn't diminish it." Gage said somewhat grumpily.

Surprisingly, it was Blake who spoke up. "Really? What kind?" She said, with something approaching curiosity.

It being Blake's first question the entire conversation, Gage was momentarily surprised.

"I'll... keep this brief." Gage said, mimicking the headmaster and pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. That earned a laugh from Yang and a roll of the eyes from Blake.

"It's mostly Aura control practice and experimentation with different Dust mixtures. Having good control and an understanding of what the Dust mixtures you use can do are pretty crucial to not blowing yourself up instead of your enemy. I can ignore some of that practice thanks to my Semblance, but all that time goes straight to learning to control my Semblance instead and practicing with it too. That may not sound like it takes a lot of time and effort, but if you don't practice your Aura control regularly, you'll slip. It's like a music instrument. If you put it down too long, you'll get rusty. So for most serious Dust mages, we'll spend anywhere from an hour to three hours meditating and experimenting with Dust. Sometimes just one or the other if we want to focus. It's not physically stressful, but it still takes a bit of time. Mentally taxing, too."

The three were finally stepping out of the crowd and into the open air by now, the sun once more gracing them with its light. Yang had taken her scroll out and was checking the campus map. She took off and gestured for the two of them to follow her, intent on taking a walk to the dorms and finding out how much space the rooms held if possible, and any kinds of lounge areas. To no one's surprise, a lot of other students were headed that way despite their relative distance from the amphitheater. Everyone wanted to know what kinds of rooms they would be expecting if they made it in.

"Interesting," Blake finally stated honestly. It was a bit silly, but Blake had never considered that some huntsman would be able to train effectively just by spending their time doing thought experiments.

"Sounds like a lot of work to me. C'mon, training is supposed to be cathartic, Engage!" Yang commented, lightly punching his shoulder. "Don't you ever just want to cut loose and hit something?"

Gage rolled his eyes and rubbed his shoulder. "Why do you think I wear the shirt and tie? It's literally work." Yang laughed at his joke, and even Blake had to stifle a laugh.

"Really though, it's very _Yangaging_ stuff." Gage stuck his tongue out at Yang, who grinned before childishly doing the same. "It's more than cathartic enough seeing the results of my experiments though. You can't deny that it's really cool literally blowing things up using your brain." He smirked, donning what could easily be deemed mad scientist's grin.

"If you say so." Blake stated blandly. She had only gave it a moment's thought, it was just more efficient for her to use Dust with her Semblance since the results were predictable and effective. It didn't hurt that it was also much faster to do than taking out a vial of Dust. Blake's fighting style was dependent on her instincts being as sharp as possible so she could keep evading and confuse her opponents with her weapon. There wasn't much time to use Dust straight like that.

Yang considered it seriously though, eyebrows raised as she looked up. Adrenaline rushes and explosions were basically part of her identity, so the idea held some appeal to her. But then again, she preferred the direct approach!

"Sounds pretty cool and all, but me? I prefer the hands-on approach to bringing a _Yang_ to the fight!" Grinning cockily, she flexed one arm and patted her bicep for good measure.

Blake groaned and Gage shook his head with a vague smile, some of his good cheer from laughing earlier still carrying him forward. He was still wary about Yang, but there should be no harm in at least entertaining her for the day, right? Plus, with Blake hanging around, that eased some of the focus on him.

 _I really hope I don't regret this later..._

* * *

Oh man, this one took me a lot more time and thought than it really should have. And then there's that one scene that I scuppered... 1,600 words, it was. But no, it was too early for that scene. "What scene," you ask? That will have to remain a mystery. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ At the very least, I saved the contents of it and will likely reuse it in the future, or at least stare at it and shed a single tear.

So before I continue I would just like to say that _AAAAAAH THIS STORIES VIEW COUNT HAS RISEN BY FIFTY PERCENT IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS._

Ahem. Specifically, before posting Chapter 6, the story had 1797 views, since then that number skyrocketed up to 2,300, and has since steadily risen up to 2,700. I've checked the numbers, and a lot of these views were repeat views by the same readers checking in multiple times. I don't know how or why you folks are reloading chapter 6 so often but if that's what you're into, I won't tell you to stop. Seriously though, chapter 6 now has more views than every other chapter but 1&2...? I don't understand.

Another number I crunched is that, to my very rough estimation, this story has roughly 200 regular readers I believe. If that's true, then that means I had a 1/5th retention rate from people who read the first chapter. Is that good? I have no clue! But it makes me happy at least.

My beta, Myst Eternally, has been rather busy of late, and unfortunately, such a future will soon be arriving for me as well with my Summer break having less than a week remaining. Oh well, I had a lot of fun writing this Summer, even if it took a tertiary priority to reading for me. I'll keep updating and writing of course, but I do not know what the schedule will look like. No discredit to Myst, talking with the guy helped me really focus and put this story out there. But for anyone reading, I am currently on the fence about getting another beta for the story. If you're interested, message me. Just mind, you will likely end up spoiled for plot points. I like to discuss things quite a bit. It's kind of a thing I need. I'm way better at world lore and character dialogue than actual plot. So on top of help coming up with story arcs and realizing them, I would also want help just checking what I've written and seeing if each chapter is cohesive.

For anyone who is concerned, no I am not losing interest in this story. It's just that the number of possible branches for the story are opening up now, and I have little intentions of just blindly following the established path of canon. I will use and borrow from it, but it will always be reinterpreted. We all know RWBY has shortcomings as a show. I am not the type of person who likes to 'fix' things though, I prefer to take what exists, and expand on it sensibly. There won't be a type of Dust that magically heals people or some such nonsense. Sorry, Gage.

Speaking of which! Mr. Lee Gage Enfield! Can we get an interview with you? We wanted to ask your thoughts on resident dork knight Jaune Arc and bodacious blonde brawler babe (pant, pant, too many B's...) Yang Xiao-Long! Please, tell us your thoughts on them and what it is that makes you Jaune's rival and so averse to Yang!

"Isn't that supposed to be revealed during the story?"

Okay... and what of the fact that everyone seems to be spending way too much time paying attention to you?

"You tell me, you're the author here. Shouldn't you try to diversify a bit?"

... Thank you for the interview, Mr. Enfield. This has been extremely insightful. Well, that's all for this time. I'll see you next update, dear readers!


End file.
